


The Warrior.

by seiraswriting



Series: Sweet Release [2]
Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: F/M, Original Character - Freeform, Series, Tumblr, bellamy x oc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-13 23:43:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 90,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seiraswriting/pseuds/seiraswriting
Summary: "I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway." After surviving the fight against the Grounders, Samantha finds herself yet in the middle of what can just be described as another big mess."In the heart of a warrior is an unconditional willingness to protect other people from harm. A warrior trains and prepares with the knowledge that they might have to protect themselves or someone else. A warrior is dedicated to a cause or goal greater them him or herself" (Fighter Vs. Warrior, 2016).Sweet Release Series (2) »» [The 100, S2.]*Warnings: most definitively swearing and some character deaths along the way.*Disclaimer*: I do not own anything in here but Sam's character and her story as well as the original characters.





	1. No breaks.

**SAM'S POV**

The sound of knocks on the door lightly woke me up. I opened my eyes unwillingly because, honestly, I could have slept for a couple more hours. Bellamy was lying beside me.

\- "Bell." –I softly whispered.

\- "I'm awake." –he slowly opened his eyes, smiling.

\- "Please tell me you didn't stay awake or else..."

\- "I did fall asleep, Sam. I woke up a little ago."

\- "And you didn't hear the door?" –I chuckled.

\- "I didn't want to wake you up, you looked peaceful."

\- "Oh, shut up." –I said as I felt the heat on my face- "Wait, what if it's about Raven?"

\- "Stay down, I'll go." –he said understanding my concern.

Bellamy let go of me and went to open the door as I ignored his words and rose up so that I could sit on the bed. Jackson was on the door.

\- "Is Samantha with you?" –he asked Bellamy.

\- "Yeah..."

\- "Is everything alright?" –I asked impatiently as I moved towards the door- "Is Raven alright?"

\- "I came to let you know she is out of surgery and to take you with me to finish your blood transfusion and to take care of your last wounds."

\- "Can I see her?" –I asked ready to step out through the door.

\- "Sam." –Bellamy called me.

\- "I need to see her." –I answered.

\- "I know but..." –he looked down- "...how about you put some boots on first?" –he smiled.

\- "Oh..." –I said rushing into the room to put on my boots- "Thanks."

Bellamy sat beside me and put on his boots too, then we slowly walked back to the infirmary; Finn was standing just outside it.

\- "Finn!" –I waved at him- "I'm so glad you're alive!"

\- "You gave us a good scare Sam."

\- "Thank you, for trying to help back there with the Grounder."

\- "Thank you for not dying."

\- "Then thank this one here." –I said pointing at Bellamy- "I'm alive because of him. And Abbie obviously."

\- "Yeah."

\- "Where is everyone else? I haven't seen anyone around."

\- "Sam..." –he said with a concerned look on his face.

\- "What is it, Finn?" –I asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

\- "When Bellamy brought you back I went with some guards to the dropship... there was no one there. I think the Grounders took them. Well Raven was there obviously and..."

\- "What?" –I spat cutting him mid-sentence- "How's that even possible?"

\- "Sam, we'll find them." –Bellamy squeezed my shoulder.

\- "You can bet your ass we will. Those Grounders don't know what's coming." –I said putting my fits in front of me- "But first, I need to see my best friend."

Finn smiled and nodded. I followed him inside and I was finally able to see Raven; Abbie was standing next to her legs; I nodded at her and walked towards my friend but Abbie stopped me.

\- "She passed out from the pain. Why don't I check your wounds first and then you can come back and see her?" –I furrowed my eyebrows at her before looking back at Raven.

\- "Fine, but do it fast." –I commanded- "Please." –I added realizing my tone was a bit harsh.

Abbie nodded and moved away from Raven; I followed her and Bellamy walked beside me, leaving only Finn with Raven.

\- "You don't have to stay if you don't want to." –I smiled at Bellamy- "You've already done so much."

\- "I'll stay with you if you don't mind." –he smiled back at me.

\- "Thank you, Bell."

He kissed my forehead and then helped me onto the stretcher where Abbie had asked me to sit.

\- "I'll finish your leg first and then I'll move to your back. While we are at it, Jackson will begin with the transfusion again, it won't take long, you were almost done."

\- "Fine with me."

\- "This will probably hurt."

\- "Won't complain."

First, Jackson put a needle into one of my arms to begin with the transfusion again; then, Abbie made me lay down and tied my leg down so that I wouldn't move it while she was taking care of it. I could feel every last bit of everything she was doing but I refused to complain seeing what Raven had had to go through. When she finished she moved away to get some more supplies and I took the chance to look at my leg.

\- "That's going to be one cute scar, let me tell you." – I observed sitting back up.

\- "You have a lot of scars, Samantha."

\- "Well, life hasn't been exactly flowing calmly down here."

\- "I see..." –Jackson said moving towards my arm- "You are almost done here too. How are you feeling?"

\- "Much better, thank you, Jackson." –I smiled at him as Abbie approached us again.

\- "Alright, now I'll need you to sit on the edge of the table and lean a bit forward. I don't want you to lie down because that would put pressure on your leg wound and it is still fresh."

I nodded and did as told. She opened the gown she had given me the last time I was there and asked me not to move. As she was doing her job, Bellamy kneeled in front of me and took my hands in his.

\- "You alright?"

\- "We've been through worse, honestly." –I said clenching my teeth at the end as I felt the needle on my skin.

\- "You sure have." –he smiled at me.

\- "Yeah, and you better not get through it." –I chuckled.

\- "Samantha, you can't move." –Abbie scolded me.

\- "Sorry." –I softly apologized- "It's your fault." –I whispered to Bellamy.

He laughed and then apologized.

\- "We are almost done Samantha, a couple more minutes and you'll be free." -Jackson let me know.

\- "Now that you mention being free... you know what I'd like to get?"

\- "Not really."

\- "Some actual clothes. I appreciate this gown but honestly, it is so ugly and I can't be running around in this, it'll ruin my reputation." –I smiled trying not to laugh as Bellamy chuckled- "Besides, it's like I'm walking around naked, it's cold, you know?"

\- "We already found you some clothes." –Abbie said moving to face me- "We are done, you can change and then you can come with me and see Raven."

\- "That is awesome!" –I said almost jumping from the table.

\- "Samantha, you can't be running around now. You need to let those wounds heal."

\- "How long?"

\- "A couple weeks."

\- "Weeks?" –I almost screamed- "You'll be lucky if we don't get attacked in the next 24 hours."

Abbie gave me a look and was about to question me when Bellamy spoke.

\- "Sam's right, the Grounders could attack us anytime now. I'll take care of Sam, but she won't stay still for long, trust me." –he looked at me and I grinned at him.

\- "Fine, just take it easy."

\- "Sure thing, doc."

Jackson took the needle from my arm and gave me my new clothes and I started to put them on quickly.

\- "I'm so glad I have pants, my legs were getting cold."

\- "Wait, let me at least turn around." –Bellamy argued moving away.

\- "Oh, please." –I chuckled- "As if you hadn't already seen a woman naked."

\- "Sam."

\- "What?" –I said as I put on the t-shirt which was luckily black- "You are so cute, but stop treating me like a sister, would you? You can turn around now if you want."

\- "Is that how you see me?" –he asked- "As a brother?"

\- "I mean, if you could just stop your overprotectiveness and sometimes extreme caution around me, I'd appreciate it." –I raised an eyebrow as I put on my jacket.

\- "I don't want to be your brother, Sam."

\- "That's fine with me; it'd be rather weird if siblings behaved and slept together like us." –I kissed his cheek- "Now, c'mon, I need to see my best friend."

I took his hand on mine and started pulling him so that he'd follow me.

\- "Fair enough."

He started laughing and finally followed me. When we got to where Raven was, Finn had her hand on his and Abbie had a needle on her hand and she was placed next to Raven's feet.

\- "Raven?" –I asked gently stroking her cheek.

\- "Hello, Sam." –she smiled at me.

\- "I'm not even going to ask you how you are feeling."

\- "Do I look that bad?"

\- "You honestly need to sleep some more."

\- "I do."

\- "But first we are going to check your legs." –Abbie interrupted our conversation and I turned to face her- "Tell me if you feel anything."

She placed the needle on Raven's right foot and moved it from bottom to top as Raven's fingers moved due to the contact.

\- "I felt that."

\- "Good, now the left."

Abbie proceeded to do the same on Raven's other foot, but nothing happened.

\- "Anything?" –Finn asked Raven.

Raven looked at him and her eyes said it all.  _This can't be happening._

\- "Try it again." –Finn told Abbie but she didn't move- "Try it again." –he screamed making Abbie flinch.

\- "Finn..." –I started but Bellamy squeezed my hand and shook his head at me.

Finn looked at me and then at Abbie and the proceeded to punch the table and move away, but Raven's voice stopped him.

\- "Finn..."

He turned around and looked at Abbie.

\- "Raven." –Abbie started- "I want you to tell me when you feel something, okay?"

She then started to move the needled across Raven's leg, from her feet and up to her knee.

\- "There." –Raven said as the needle pressed against her upper knee.

\- "Raven, it appears that you have significant damage to the nerves in your left leg."

\- "Will it get better?" –she questioned.

\- "For now, you'll need crutches, but you are alive." –Abbie tried to cheer her up- "And you are not in pain anymore."

\- "But I'm still crippled." –Raven argued inhaling deeply.

Abbie looked at Bellamy and I and then at Finn.

\- "I'll give you guys some time." –she said and left.

\- "We'll get through this Raven, I promise you." –I said as I kissed her forehead and then looked at Finn- "I'm going to think of a way to get the rest back. Also, if you need anything, let me know."

I said so and left the infirmary. Bellamy came after me soon after.

\- "There's nothing you could have done, Sam."

\- "I should have let you kill Murphy."

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Sam..." –I said hugging her.

\- "No." –she tried to get rid of me but finally desisted- "You were right and I was wrong." –she buried her face on my chest- "Raven is now like this because I trusted Murphy again cause I'm so dumb and I swear if he is alive I'm..."

\- "Sam? Bellamy? You guys are alive."

 _Oh no. That is not good._  I turned around as Sam got rid of me to see Murphy standing in front of us. I felt Sam tense beside me and, before I could react, she moved.

\- "You are so dead right now." –she screamed and threw herself at him.

\- "Sam, no." –I tried to take her away from Murphy.

\- "Sam, Sam, wait." –Murphy said covering his face.

\- "You almost killed two of the most important people in my life; I'll wait when one of us is dead."

We were soon after surrounded by guards who took their shock batons.

\- "Don't, she is hurt." –I tried to stop them but they hit me with one of them.

I fell to the floor and soon after Sam screamed in pain.

\- "Hit her again."

I turned around and saw Sam falling to the ground. At that moment, Kane came into sight and I looked up at him, still trying to control my breath.

\- "Place them under arrest." –he simply said without even looking at me.

I turned to face Sam again, she was lying on her back gasping for air, a tear running down her cheek.

\- "Wait, wait!" –Finn came out of the infirmary running- "You don't understand. Murphy murdered two of our people, he shot Sam and Raven and he hanged Bellamy."

\- "I don't care, you are not animals." –Kane answered- "There are rules."

Kane turned to face me as two guards tied my hands and made me rise from the ground. I looked at Sam who had her eyes glued to Kane.

\- "There are laws. You are not in control here anymore."

\- "You just wait." –Sam argued.

Kane moved towards Sam with a threatening look on his face that almost equaled Sam's. I tried to get rid of the two guards but they stroke me again with the baton for resisting and I was left there just to watch afraid of what would come next.

\- "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm now in charge around here and you will obey." –he looked at another guard- "Take her."

\- "I have no plans on being your puppet Kane. This is not the Ark and you will find out soon enough."

\- "Enough." –Kane said raising his hand.

\- "Are you going to hit me?" –Sam almost spat looking up at Kane- "I dare you."

\- "Don't tempt me."

\- "I'm not scared of you."

Kane nodded at the guard behind Sam, who had his baton out, and he hit her again with it. After that, he handcuffed her and Kane nodded at the guards who took us to the cells. Once we were in, they untied us both and left us there, closing the doors after them. I started pacing the room as Sam remained sat, with her back on a pillar.

\- "Sorry."

\- "For...?" –I asked confused.

\- "For bringing you into this mess." –Sam pointed out looking around us.

\- "I told you if you got locked up, I'd be there with you." –she smiled- "But you should have stopped." –I argued squatting next to her.

\- "Sure." –she scoffed rolling her eyes- "But someone had to let Kane know how things work around here."

\- "And what did you get in exchange for that?"

\- "Three shocks with that electric shit. You just wait, once I get one of those..."

\- "Shh." –I laughed- "I don't need you getting in trouble yet again. Stop for at least a couple hours, could you do that?"

\- "I mean..." –she said raising her eyebrow- "...I can try. But I can't promise it."

\- "You alright then?" –I questioned.

\- "Uh yeah, I'm not bleeding this time."

\- "Good, you know..."

\- "You don't want your blood spilled all over the place, got it, Blake."

\- "Exactly." –I smiled at her.

\- "I still want one of those things, I'm sure whoever has our people will love them. I'm sure I'm gonna get a couple bruises."

\- "Yeah, me too."

\- "Thank you."

\- "For what now?"

\- "For trying to protect me."

 _Always._ I stroke her cheek and she smiled. At that moment, the door behind us started opening and I rose up in front of Sam. Kane entered the room alone.

\- "How long are you gonna keep us locked up in here?" –I asked him.

\- "Until I'm confident you're no longer a threat to others."

\- "Then we are going to be here for a while." –Sam whispered behind me as I tried not to smile at her words.

Kane took a chair from one side of the cell and placed it in front of another. He sat in one of them and pointed at the other one.

\- "I need information."

\- "Now you need our help?" –Sam mocked him as she rose from the floor- "I thought you were in charge around here and therefore knew everything there's to know."

\- "And because I'm in charge, you are going to tell me everything you know about those you call 'Grounders'." –Kane answered her- "Murphy said there were hundreds of them attacking. Two? Three hundred?"

\- "I didn't count." –I  clenched my fits.

\- "Why do you think they attacked? What provoked them?"

\- "We were here, that was enough." –I looked at Sam and she nodded- "We are wasting time; the others didn't just vanish into thin air. They were taken."

\- "And we are going to go after them." –Sam ended.

\- "A search team is prepping to leave, but not before we've gotten the intel from you both."

\- "I need to be on that team, please." –I begged sitting on the chair in front of him.

\- "It's out of the question. You're not trained. It's too dangerous."

\- "And who exactly is in that super prepared team then? A couple guards from the Ark who know absolutely nothing from this place? Sounds like a great plan to me, yeah." –Sam threw her hands in the air.  _She is not wrong_ \- "If you want to succeed you need Bellamy in your team. He is the reason we survived. You won't survive without him."

\- "And you?" –Kane questioned her- "You don't want to go?"

\- "Of course, I do. Those are my people out there." –Sam scoffed- "But I know that if you are going to trust one of us, it is going to be the one who caused less trouble today, and that's definitely not me." –she smiled.

\- "They are my people too."

\- "Are you sur...?"

\- "Sam..." –I warned her and she backed down.

\- "You wanna help them? Tell me what we're up against." -Kane spoke to me- "Grounder tactics, their numbers, what kind of weapons they used."

\- "Arrows and spears, axes, swords. Their teeth."

\- "No guns?" –I shook my head in denial- "You had guns."

\- "The guns we found at the aid depot leveled the playing field. Maybe if we had more bullets, we could've..."

\- "There were more bullets." –Kane interrupted me- "Search team just returned from the bunker, they found two more barrels with rifles and a third filled with bullets."

\- "We should've looked harder."

\- "Alright, enough." –Sam placed a hand on my shoulder and faced Kane- "You think you could have ended that army just with bullets? You haven't seen them. We ended them, we survived, move on."

As Kane was ready to answer Sam, the door opened again.

\- "Keep walking." –a man's voice said.

Suddenly, Murphy came in, tied up and with two guards, one at each side. I looked at him and then at Sam.

\- "What is he doing here?" –Sam simply stated.

\- "Excuse me, sir. Dr. Griffin cleared Mr. Murphy out of medical."

\- "I clearly didn't beat Mr. Murphy hard enough." –she faced me- "I'm sorry, that's just hilarious." –she whispered.

I smiled as she expressed my thoughts out loud. Kane stood up and I did the same, standing next to Sam as Kane moved towards Murphy.

\- "Put him over there, Major Byrne."

They moved to place Murphy on the floor beside us as two guards moved towards Sam and me and asked us to get on our knees.

\- "You are not seriously locking me... us, up with him, right? How long do you think it'll take us to kill each other exactly?" –Sam asked as she reluctantly got on her knees.

Sam and I were each taken to a different part of the cell and tied up again.

\- "Well, this should be fun." –Murphy finally spoke.

Sam rolled her eyes and laid against the wall behind her as the guard finished tying her up. Suddenly, gunshots were heard followed by people screaming.

\- "Let's go." –Kane told the guards.

They all run out of the cell, leaving the three of us tied in it. Once the doors closed Murphy spoke.

\- "Yeah, I screamed too at the Grounder's camp. I did everything I could not to scream but eventually..."

\- "But eventually you broke and you told them everything."- I angrily stated.

\- "And you wouldn't have because you are better than me."

\- "Damn right. I'm not a traitor. I didn't tell them where they could find us."

\- "Are you both really going to be like this the whole time?" –Sam asked- "Murphy." –she looked at him- "Yeah, you broke and shit went down, fine. It's good enough you even survived that. But you didn't have to try and kill us or shoot Raven."

\- "I didn't want to kill you, I care abo..."

\- "I don't wanna know." –Sam cut him- "And you, Bellamy, you're better than this."

\- "But..."

\- "No buts." –she cut me this time- "Now, how about we think of something to get out of this one, huh?"

\- "We are tied to the walls and can't move." –Murphy stated.

\- "Yeah, that's why I said 'think' and didn't just get up and leave." –Sam sarcastically answered him.

\- "We are not getting out of this one." –I added.

\- "Oh, God, I can't believe I got myself locked up with the two most negative people on the universe." –Sam chuckled.

\- "I'm not negative, I was just stating a fact. However, your boyfriend over there really knows how to kill the mood."

I tensed as Murphy spoke with venom in his lips.  _Boyfriend? We are not together, why would he even say that?_  I didn't know what to do.

\- "At least my so-called boyfriend over there didn't try to kill me and actually saved my dead ass, Murphy." –Sam told him- "Besides, why do you even care what Bellamy and I are?"

\- "I don't." -Murphy said avoiding Sam's eyes.

\- "Really? Then next time try to sound less bothered and then I may actually believe you."

\- "Sam..." –Murphy tried again.

\- "No." –I looked at Sam as she spoke- "I don't trust you. You almost killed two of the people I care the most about. Thankfully Bellamy is just fine but Raven..." –she closed her eyes- "If she never gets to walk around without help again, I'll kill you. And this time not even Kane will get you away from me."

Murphy sighed and gave me a quick glance. I looked at Sam but she had closed her eyes. She probably felt my eyes on her though for she spoke.

\- "You should probably relax, getting out of here may take a while." –she opened her eyes and smiled at me.

I nodded and rested my head on the wall beside me.

**SAMS'POV**

After what felt like hours of silence and some random comment here and there, the door opened.

\- "Get up, we're going after the rest." –Finn stated coming in.

He then proceeded to cut Bellamy's ties first as Monroe guarded the door.

\- "It's about time." –he told him, standing up.

\- "Yeah, how about you help me too, huh?" –I argued raising my hands for Finn to free me.

Bellamy helped me stand up as I thanked Finn, then we moved towards the exit.

\- "Hey, wait! What about me?" –Murphy asked making the four of us stop.

Bellamy looked at Finn who shook his head in denial and then at me.

\- "Don't look at me, you are the boss here." –I told Bellamy raising my eyebrows and shrugging my shoulders.

_Besides, he could be useful._

Bellamy took the pliers from the ground and moved towards Murphy who crouched even more against the wall as he approached him.

\- "Wait, no!" –Finn yelled moving towards Bellamy- "What are you doing?"

\- "He's coming with us." –he said as he cut Murphy's ties and made him stand up.

\- "No way."

\- "He's been to the Grounder's camp."

\- "He's right, okay? I can take you there." –Murphy offered.  _Good._

\- "Hey, Sterling just signaled, someone's coming." –Monroe interrupted us.

\- "C'mon people!" –I moved towards Monroe and turned to face the three guys- "What could go wrong?".

Finn looked at me and then at the other two. I started walking away as I heard him sigh and then steps behind me as I smiled.  _This shall be fun._  As we finally were away from the camp Bellamy spoke.

\- "You don't think anyone saw us?"

\- "Shh, keep it down." –Finn told him.

We moved a little further when a light in our faces made us stop.

\- "We've been busted." –I noted- "Great."

Suddenly, Abbie appeared from behind the guard.

\- "You're late."

\- "Bellamy decided to bring company." –Finn answered her.

_Well now that I did not see coming. This is an interesting alliance, I wonder how long it will last._

\- "Murphy is the only person that's been in their camp."

Abbie nodded and gave Finn a gun and another one to me.

\- "You wouldn't happen to know where my bow went, do you?" –I asked her as I gladly accepted the weapon.

\- "It's back in camp but we had no arrows so I brought you a gun."

\- "Keep it safe, please."

Abbie smiled and then the guard approached Bellamy and gave him his rifle.

\- "Here, find my son. His name is Nathan Miller." –Bellamy nodded at his words.

\- "Bring them home."

Finn nodded and started moving followed by Monroe. I looked at Abbie and Miller's father one more time and then I followed Monroe; I turned around for a second to see Murphy coming right behind me, followed by Bellamy who nodded at me as I gave him a small smile. Sterling came last after Bellamy.  _It's going to be a long night. Jasper, here I come._


	2. No calm before the storm.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way to the Grounder’s village, no one is really sure about how this will actually turn out. Once they get there, Bellamy’s ‘master plan’ works, to Sam’s surprise. Now they just need some intel, and Finn is decided to get it, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: _unimportant_ character death.

**SAM'S POV**

We'd been walking for a couple hours now following Murphy's directions in order to get to where the Grounder's camp was supposed to be. I eventually had moved to Finn's side to talk with him about Raven and also because I was tired of Murphy asking for things.

\- "So..." –I started- "How are you holding up?"

\- "Fine." –Finn simply answered, trying to avoid the topic.

\- "I know you don't wanna talk right now, but I wanted to tell you that I'm here if you need me, alright?"

\- "Thank you, Sam. Seriously."

\- "Thank you for taking care of my best friend while I was out."

\- "I... I don't know if she'll be okay."

\- "Raven is strong, she'll get through this." –I squeezed his shoulder- "We'll help her get through it."

Finn sighed and gave me a small smile. I didn't want to push him so I avoided Clarke's topic and we kept walking in silence.

\- "Alright, Murphy, where to now?" –Bellamy asked after a while.

\- "What do you say we lose these first, huh?" – Murphy said raising his tied hands.

\- "Again, no."

\- "If we get attacked I have nothing to defend myself with."

\- "I don't care."

 _Well, Murphy is right._  Finn took a knife and moved back towards Murphy and freed him.

\- "Thank you."

\- "Hey!" –Bellamy moved after Finn who had come back to walk beside me- "What the hell are you doing?"

\- "It was your idea to bring him." –Finn answered frivolously.

\- "Yeah, he's the only one who's seen where they keep their prisoners."

\- "That's exactly why he kind of has a point." –I argued.

\- "Besides, we can handle Murphy." –Finn looked at me and I nodded in agreement.

\- "You both better hope so." –Bellamy warned us.

Finn kept walking as I stayed behind with Bellamy.

\- "You know we can handle him, we..." –I said pointing at him and then at me- "...have done it before."

\- "If I recall correctly, none of those situations ended up too well."

\- "Well, we didn't die, that must count for something." –I shrugged my shoulders.

Suddenly Murphy appeared behind us and started speaking.

\- "So, do I get a gun now?"

\- "Oh, yeah." –I turned to face him- "You can get this gun in your chest while I pull the trigger." –I said pointing at the gun in my pants.

Bellamy laughed as Murphy looked horrified at me.

\- "Don't worry. I won't shoot you if you behave." – I pushed him to move in front of me.

\- "We may be able to handle him." –Bellamy winked at me.

\- "What do you mean 'we'? More like 'I' just did." –I smiled.

We kept walking following Murphy's directions. We kept changing positions as to who was leading the group and who looked over Murphy. I walked first in line now and Murphy followed closely behind. Out of nowhere, I was on the floor.

\- "Everybody down now." –Murphy spoke- "Get down."

\- "You know you didn't have to crush me to the floor, right?" –I argued squatting next to him.

\- "You are welcome."

\- "For what exactly?"

\- "Because I brought you to the Grounders' village in one piece." –Murphy told me pointing in front of me.

\- "Oh." –I mumbled turning around- "I see."

\- "I told you I'd find it." –I heard Murphy talking with Bellamy.

Bellamy took his rifle and looked through its sniper scope towards the village.

\- "What do you see?" –I asked him.

\- "Nothing but Grounders."

\- "Can't say I'm surprised." –I sat back down.

\- "Our people aren't here." –he specified.

\- "Wait a minute." –Finn said looking mimicking Bellamy's moves– "They've got stuff from our dropship.

\- "So, maybe they know where our friends are."

\- "Yeah, or maybe they killed them already." –Murphy commented.

\- "You are aware you have outlived your usefulness, right?" –I warned him.

\- "Son of a bitch." –Finn whispered still looking to the Grounders.

\- "What?" –Bellamy and I asked in unison.

\- "The guy with the one eye." –Finn oriented Bellamy who moved his rifle back up- "Around his neck."

\- "What am I looking at?"

\- "He's got Clarke's watch. It was her father's." –Finn looked at me.

_Oh no._

\- "She wouldn't give that up without a fight." –Bellamy almost questioned us as I shook my head no.

\- "We need answers, now." –I stated taking Bellamy's rifle- "I count 5 with the one-eyed guy. Let's do this."

\- "Wait." –Bellamy pushed me down- "Finn, you are with me. You three stay here, out of sight, if this thing goes south, take out the other Grounders."

I looked up at him as he gave the orders.  _Do I look like a babysitter?_  As if he could read my mind, he looked at me.

\- "I know you wanna come with me but I need you to stay hidden in case this goes wrong. I know you can take care of yourself but right now you have to trust me on this."

\- "Fine." –I rolled my eyes- "Next time you are the one staying out of the party."

\- "Sure." –he laughed a little- "Just don't shoot the Grounder with the watch, alright?"

\- "Whatever you say, boss."

Monroe chuckled beside me and nodded and so did Sterling.

\- "But what about Murphy?" –Monroe asked.

\- "Yeah, do I get a gun now?"

\- "Something like that." –Bellamy answered as he pushed him to move.

Once they left, Monroe, Sterling and I started checking what the Grounders where doing, keeping an eye for weird movements or noises. Suddenly a noise stumbled upon my ears.

\- "What's that?" –Sterling asked.

\- "It sounds like rocks falling into the ground." –I answered looking around.

\- "Yeah, but where does it come from?" –Monroe wandered looking behind us.

\- "I can't believe that idiot's plan is to make noise with rocks." –I sighed.

\- "Let's just hope it works out." –Monroe looked at me.

\- "Yeah, or else we are going to be in the middle of another fight." –Sterling ended.

Monroe and I nodded as we kept watching the Grounders. The one with the watch had suddenly disappeared.

\- "Anyone see where he went?"

\- "He was just there."

\- "Look!"

Monroe and I turned around to where Sterling was pointing. Bellamy and Finn were carrying the Grounder and Murphy was walking beside them.  _Un-fucking-believable._

\- "What are we going to do with him?" –Monroe asked.

\- "We are getting some information." –Finn answered- "And I know just the place to go."

Sterling then proceeded to change places with Finn, so that he would be carrying the Grounder with Bellamy and Finn could guide us to where we needed to go. Monroe asked, or more so, commanded Murphy to walk in front of her so that she could keep an eye on him. I moved next to Bellamy.

\- "I don't know what's harder to believe: that that was your actual plan or that it actually worked."

\- "So little faith, Sam."

\- "No offense, but you tend to walk around without plans."

\- "When has that even happened?"

\- "A couple times, don't you dare trying to deny it."

\- "I always have a plan."

\- "Do enlighten me, please."

\- "Alright, you tell me when I didn't have a plan and I'll tell you what it actually was."

\- "For starters, the night you left camp alone after being hit on the head to look for Charlotte."

\- "I had a plan."

\- "Oh, yeah, and that was...?"

\- "Finding Charlotte."

\- "That's not a plan!" –I laughed- "That's a goal."

\- "The plan was to find Charlotte and get her away from Murphy."

\- "Without backup or weapons." –I reminded him- "Such a nice plan."

\- "No offense but you never have a plan in mind yourself." –he smirked.

\- "Non-taken." –I grinned at him- "I never said I have, my gut doesn't have time for planning."

\- "I'm familiar with that way of doing things, yeah."

\- "I'm glad you didn't need backup."

\- "Me too."

We walked for a little longer until we got to a bunker where Finn decided to interrogate the Grounder. We sat him on a chair and tied him as hard as possible, to make sure he wouldn't escape or try anything. Once he got back to his senses, Finn and Bellamy started asking questions but were never really satisfied with the answers. After the fifth time, I chose to lay in one of the beds, after all, I still needed to take it easy.  _This will take a while._  Murphy sat down next to me but didn't speak. For what seemed like the thousand time, Bellamy tried again.

\- "We're gonna do this again and this time you are gonna stop screwing with us. Where did you find this?"

\- "I told you, I found it outside your camp."

\- "He's lying." –Finn intervened- "She would never take it off voluntarily." –he took the watch- "Where is the girl who was wearing this watch?"

\- "I never saw a girl."

\- "Another lie." –Murphy spoke- "Maybe you should stop asking him nicely..."

\- "Shut up, Murphy." –I said pushing him as Finn and Bellamy's voices faded into the background- "You are not helping."

\- "And you are?"

\- "I'm not getting in their way."

\- "You are just lying there, being useless."

I opened my eyes at his sharp tone and sat on the bed looking at him in the eyes.

\- "Just because you make a comment here and there doesn't mean you are actually helping, Murphy. Besides, it's not like I can get the answers out of him anyway."

\- "I just think it's weird how calm you are acting right now, not moving around like you usually do."

\- "Well, give me a break. I almost died yesterday, alright?"

\- "Wait, what? Are you serious?"

\- "Yeah, I almost bleed out so, breaking news: apparently, I can die."

\- "Samantha..."

\- "Bellamy saved me though so why do you care?"

\- "Cause you are my friend and I care about you; I never wanted to hurt you."

\- "You tried to kill me once, maybe twice if you count the knife on my throat back at the cliff; you also betrayed my trust and tried to kill Bellamy and injured Raven." –I enumerated for him- "So you did hurt me a little."

\- "I'm sorry, alright? I was angry."

\- "Trust me." –I scoffed- "I know."

\- "I'm sorry for what happened with Charlotte."

\- "Don't be. That one's really on all of us."

\- "I'm sorry for the time at the dropship too."

\- "What were you even thinking?"

\- "I wanted to hurt Bellamy, made him feel what I felt."

\- "I think he got the memo cause you actually hanged him."

\- "Yeah... I didn't mean to hurt you, Sam...Samantha. I just..."

\- "I know, it's fine, I know I was collateral damage." –I shrugged my shoulders- "Tends to happen."

\- "I spoke with Raven."

\- "You did? When?" –I raised my eyebrows in confusion.

\- "Before Finn and the others got to the dropship, the Grounder keeping an eye on me..."

\- "They captured you again?"

\- "Yeah. Anyway..." –he brushed it off- "...he entered the dropship and Raven shot him, she then shot me but she didn't have any bullets, so that's why I'm still alive."

\- "I'm surprised she didn't kill you after all."

\- "I'll never forgive myself for doing that to her. I..."

\- "Did you guys talk about this?"

\- "Yeah."

\- "And you guys are good?"

\- "I don't know, maybe?"

\- "Then you and I are good." –I smiled- "I won't kill you."

\- "Samantha..."

\- "Call me Sam, M." –I squeezed his shoulder- "But I swear to the gods if you dare betraying me or hurting anyone I care about one more time, I swear I'll kill you."

\- "I won't, thank you."

\- "You still have to earn my trust back."

\- "I will. I'm glad Bellamy saved you, I'll have to thank him."

\- "Oh, please do. I can't wait to see how a conversation between you both goes." –I chuckled.

\- "Hey!" –Murphy faked hurt.

At the moment, Finn started yelling, bringing Murphy and me back into reality.

\- "Answer the question!" –Finn screamed frustrated- "Where's the girl who was wearing this watch?"

He had punched the Grounder who was now bleeding.

\- "Hey, hey." –Bellamy grabbed him and pushed him away- "Finn, stop! You don't wanna do this. Trust me. There are some lines you can't uncross."

 _Lincoln._  They broke apart as Finn tried to recover his breath. Bellamy moved away and I stood up.

\- "Hey." –I said placing a hand on his shoulder making him turn around and face me- "You need to let go of that. You are good, Bellamy."

\- "How you know?"

\- "Because I know you and I know the demon haunting you right now. You need to let yourself feel the pain and then let go, the past is the past, you can't change that."

He moved his hand to streak my cheek but he stopped mid-way as Finn started yelling.

\- "Where's Clarke?"

Finn repeated the same question over and over again as he beat the Grounder who was now bleeding even more. Bellamy moved to grab Finn but he pushed him away.

\- "Back off!" –he took a gun and pointed it at Bellamy.

Panic ran through my blood, Finn was really out of control.

\- "Put the gun down, Finn." –Bellamy calmly spoke.

Instead, Finn loaded then gun and pointed it to the Grounder's head.

\- "Three seconds."

I looked at the scene in front of me unsure of how to act now. Finn counted two as the Grounder rose his head to look at him, fear in his eyes.

\- "One."

\- "Okay. I'll tell you." –the Grounder spoke, mouth full of blood- "Your friends are east of here at the village where we take our prisoners of war."

\- "East where? How do we get to them?"

\- "I can draw you a map but you should hurry, soon they'll outlive their usefulness."

\- "Get him something to draw a map." –Finn ordered putting the gun down but his eyes never left the Grounder.

Monroe moved fast and gave the Grounder a paper and a pencil to draw. Murphy moved towards Bellamy.

\- "And you thought I was the crazy one, huh?"

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "I don't like this." –Sam came to face me.

\- "Neither do I."

\- "No, I mean." –she looked at the Grounder drawing and then at Finn and continued- "He said they are in the village where they take war prisoners."

\- "Yeah."

\- "It doesn't add up." –she looked at me again- "If that's the village where they take war prisoners... why didn't they take Murphy there?"

I looked at Murphy and then at her.  _Fuck._

\- "You are right."

\- "He is lying, but I know Finn won't give in." –she looked at him- "He's really lost it; for a second I was afraid he was actually going to shoot you."

\- "It's fine." –I said taking her chin in my hand to make her face me again- "I'm fine." –I reassured her as she smiled lightly.

\- "What are we going to do?"

\- "We'll check the place, maybe we'll find something there."

She nodded at me and moved to sit on one of the beds next to Murphy who started talking to her. I thought she might push him away but she actually talked with him.  _I must have missed something there._  I turned around and faced Finn who had now the drawn map with him. We looked at it and figured out what it had on it before we started packing our stuff again.

\- "Wait." –Sterling spoke- "What about him?"

\- "For now, we leave him. We'll deal with him when we are done."

\- "What if he escapes? He knows where we're going." –Murphy started.

\- "We're not killing him." –I stated.

\- "I'm not seeing another option here." –Murphy added.

\- "Maybe one of us could stay with him." –Sam offered.

\- "If we don't take care of this now, this is gonna blow back on us and you both know that." –Murphy insisted.

\- "He's unarmed, Murphy."

\- "He's a Grounder. Tell him." –he said looking at Sterling and Monroe and then at Sam.

\- "I don't know." –Monroe answered him.

\- "You don't know what? He's gonna tell his people everything. We are as good as dead."

\- "Fine, shut up." –Sam said looking for her gun- "I'll do it."

\- "Hey!" –I grabbed her- "No, you are not doing this."

\- "Bellamy."

\- "You'll have to go through me." –I stood my ground.

_We are not doing this. She is not going through this again._

\- "I don't want to hurt you, Bellamy." –her eyes softened as she spoke.

\- "Then stop this, Samantha." –I said soothing my grip on her arm.

\- "What happened to you, huh? You became a softie while I was gone? You're talking like you never killed a Grounder." –Murphy came to face me as I let go of Sam.

\- "That was in battle, this would be an execution..."

A gunshot cut my words. We all turned around to see the Grounder on the floor, dead, and Finn with the gun in his hand.

\- "Let's get moving." –he simply stated and walked past us, taking the map.

Murphy, Monroe, and Sterling moved after him as Sam kept her eyes on the Grounder.

\- "I should have done it." –Sam spoke still looking at the bloody floor- "He won't be able to live with that when he realizes what he's done."

\- "Where you really going to kill him? After I told you you'd have to go through me."

\- "You know I'd never hurt you, Bellamy; I like you too much." –she turned to face me- "But I know I can live with these things." - _The guard back in the Ark_ \- "I'm not sure he can." –she looked at the exit.

\- "I wouldn't have let you."

\- "I know, I counted on Murphy to distract you. Besides, I wasn't really going to kill him, just hurt him really bad so he couldn't escape." –she gave me a sad smile- "Maybe the Finn I was starting to get to know wouldn't have been able to live like this... maybe this new Finn can."

\- "He is not okay."

\- "Of course not. He loves Clarke; it's like he's grieving her at the same time he's fighting to get her back and, for the sake of his mental health, I hope we'll find her, and the rest, soon. I'm afraid if we don't, he'll do something worse."

\- "Are you both coming or what?" –Murphy's voice echoed from outside- "It's not the time to make out right now, you know? Finn is leaving."

\- "He is obsessed with us." –Sam smiled as the subject changed.

\- "Maybe you should ask him why." –I raised an eyebrow, smiling.

\- "I don't like Murphy that way and he knows it." –she moved towards the exit- "Besides, I think he wants to talk with you."

\- "With me?" –I questioned- "And why is that?"

\- "I don't know, maybe he likes you that way." –she smirked at me before going up the stairs and out of the bunker.

\- "Too bad I only have eyes for you, Sam." –I smiled following her.

\- "Oh, I'm sure you do." –I saw her smiling at me as she offered me her hand to get out of the bunker.

\- "You are not blushing, how's that?" –I pointed out, used to the pink on her cheeks each time we interchanged comments like these.

\- "Maybe I'm getting better at controlling myself around you, maybe you need to step up your game." –she raised her eyebrow- "Or maybe it's your own blood, who knows."

I laughed, amused by her.

\- "Alright now, let's focus on this." –I told her as I started moving- "I don't wanna die because you are flirting with me."

\- "I could say the same, you know?" –she argued as she started to focus on our surroundings again and so did I.

**SAM'S POV**

After our little talk, Bellamy and I caught up easily with the others. We were completely alone in new ground, so we all stood sharp as we advanced in the direction of this new camp. I still didn't think the Grounder was saying the truth but I knew Finn needed this so I wasn't about to burst his bubble.  _Yet._

\- "Everyone eyes peeled, we're in Grounder territory." –Bellamy reminded us for the billion time.

_No shit, Sherlock._

\- "Everything is Grounder territory." –Murphy expressed my thoughts out loud as I tried to repress the laugh in my chest- "I can't keep running." –he said as he stopped- "We don't even know if the guy Finn killed is telling the truth."

\- "Keep moving." –Finn commanded as he pushed Murphy.

\- "We can give them a minute." –Bellamy interfered.

\- "No, we can't. You heard what that Grounder said: "They'll outlive their usefulness"."

\- "I heard what he said when you had a gun to his head."

\- "Finn, I know you don't wanna hear this..." –I spoke moving beside him- "...but Murphy is right, it doesn't add up. He might have said something because he was afraid of you."

\- "Do you all think I wanted to do that? He would have told his people we're coming and by the time we got there, our people would be dead." –he looked at Bellamy and then at me- "Maybe that's something you both can live with, but I can't."

\- "Are you fucking kidding me, Finn?" –I spat pushing Finn forward- "Do you actually think I don't give a shit about our people?"

\- "Sam..." –Murphy moved towards me as he spoke in unison with Bellamy.

\- "No, you both shut up now." –I faced Finn- "Look, I know there's no one there that I love the way you love Clarke, but that doesn't mean I don't care. Jasper is there and hopefully Monty too, and I am getting both of them back." –I turned around while adding- "So don't you dare implying I don't care, I always do."

\- "Then why are you defending Murphy? Just because you aren't losing the one you love doesn't mean we can stop."

\- "Finn, enough." –Bellamy stopped him- "I know you did what you think you had to do but you are not yourself right now and I can't be out here with another loose cannon."

Monroe had kept moving forward a little and her voice made us all turn around.

\- "You guys..."

A bunch of insects were buzzing and flying around in front of us. We started moving again and, as we advanced, we saw something I wish we had never had to see. Hundreds of bodies were spread through the territory in front of us, clothes and body parts lying around or hanging from tree branches: a catastrophe.

\- "Where the hell do they come from?" –Murphy asked completely oblivious.

\- "From the Ark." –Bellamy explained to him.

\- "Would anyone have managed to survive?" –I wandered not really expecting an answer.

Bellamy and Murphy looked at me, most probably agreeing on a firm 'no'. We kept moving until we got to a cliff.

\- "That's a rough landing." –Murphy commented.

And he couldn't have been more right: the ship had crashed into the cliff and ended up falling into the valley, completely destroyed.

\- "There's nothing we can do for this people." –Bellamy finally spoke- "We gotta go."

We all started moving back when a noise interrupted us.

\- "You heard that?" –Murphy questioned.

We moved back to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

\- "Hey." –Monroe pointed out- "Someone's there."

\- "We need to help them." –I said.

\- "Hey!" –Bellamy shouted- "Up here!"

\- "Please! Help me!" –the girl begged.

\- "Mel?" –Sterling asked.

\- "You know her?"

\- "Murphy shut up. She's my friend, we have to do something."

\- "We will, I promise." –I told him- "We need something to get her up."

Sterling quickly moved back as Bellamy and Finn moved away to talk. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear anything else coming from Finn's mouth so I started to look for stuff with Sterling as Mel kept shouting. We finally found a rope and Sterling started to get it around his body.

\- "You sure you wanna go?"

\- "Yeah, she's my friend, I'm doing this."

\- "Alright. Everything secure?"

\- "Yeah, don't worry, I know what I'm doing." –he assured me.

He started to move down the cliff as Monroe, Murphy and I looked.

\- "We are moving out." –Bellamy said turning around.

\- "Don't think so."

\- "Sterling, wait!" –Finn screamed.

\- "Yeah, it looks like we are taking that break after all." –Murphy commented, sassy as he got.

I looked at him as he moved away to sit down next to a rock. Finn started sighing angrily at the situation as Monroe, Bellamy and I kept looking over the edge at Sterling and Mel.

\- "I'm almost there." – Sterling shouted- "Once I have her, pull us up."

\- "I'd say he's heard too many of your motivational speeches." –Murphy told Bellamy as he moved back to the edge.

\- "Shut up, Murphy."

\- "At least he is doing something for someone he cares about, you know?" –I spoke as Murphy looked at me unconvinced.

The next 10 seconds of our lives went by too fast. Something snapped beside us and we all turned around to see the rope Sterling had tied to keep him hanging had untied and was now moving towards the edge as Sterling started to fall down. Monroe and I, on instinct, threw ourselves to the ground and tried to catch it, but it slipped burning through our fingers and then, we heard a flat noise. Sterling was dead. I looked at her, she had tears in her eyes and she was breathing heavily; Sterling was her friend and she watched his life slip through our fingers. Murphy helped us both up and Monroe moved away from the edge as she threw her hands to the air in despair. I looked at Murphy and then down as Mel.

\- "Mel! Hold on" –Bellamy told her- "Focus on me, you can do this."

\- "No, I can't."

\- "Yes, you do. You're strong."

\- "I'm not strong. Stubborn maybe."

\- "Then hold on a little longer because you are definitely joining Bell and I's stubborn club, alright?" –I said squatting next to Bellamy who nodded at me.

\- "Yeah, we are not gonna let you die. You hear me?"

Bellamy moved back but Finn stopped him.

\- "We're out of rope."

\- "So? We make a new one."

\- "Anything happens to our friends..."

\- "We don't know if we can save our friends!" –Bellamy finally snapped- "For all we know, they may be dead already; we've all thought it. But what we do know is we can save this one girl."

Bellamy's voice broke at the end and I felt the urge to hug him but I decided against it, we needed our heads as cold as possible.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Sterling was one of us. She was his friend. I'm in." –Monroe stated.

\- "I promised him we'll get her up, and that's what we are doing." –Sam told Finn.

\- "How do we do it?" –Murphy looked at us.

\- "Let's find anything we can use to make a new rope." –Sam answered.

\- "Take anything you can find from the wreckage: wires, seat belts, anything." –I added to her words.

\- "Come on then." –Murphy took Monroe with him.

Sam moved to the edge again to keep an eye on Mel and try to calm her down.

\- "I hope you're right about this." –Finn almost threatened me.

\- "So do I." –I answered as I saw Sam raising her head to look at me.

\- "You are." –she simply stated.

 _She truly has a lot of faith. In me. But why?_  Once Murphy, Monroe, and Finn came back with a bunch of stuff, we all built the rope as tight and strong as we could.

\- "I'll go." –Sam said moving towards the end of the rope to start tying it up around her.

\- "No." –I went after her.

\- "Bellamy..."

\- "I said no."

\- "She and I will be lighter to pull up."

\- "I have more arm strength to hold her up."

\- "I am also strong, how dare you."

\- "I don't want you to go."

\- "Give me one more reason and don't try to blame it on my strength."

\- "I don't want you to go because I can't lose you."

\- "Well, I don't want you to go because I can't lose you."

\- "I have to do this."

\- "You don't have to. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. This is my party now and you aren't invited."

Something came to mind and I decided to play my last card.

\- "Murphy, come here."

\- "Why are you bringing him into this." –Sam whispered surprised.

\- "You know why."

\- "This isn't fair play." –she rolled her eyes- "I don't have O with me to push you out of this."

\- "Yeah?" –Murphy asked as he came next to us.

\- "Hold Sam here while I go down for Mel."

\- "Because...?" –Murphy asked unaware of what was going on.

\- "She wants to go and I think you'll agree with me on this one: she is not going down there."

\- "You are not doing this, Sam." –Murphy faced her.

\- "I hate you both so much right now." –she sighed- "Fine, but if you don't come back up to me, I'll find you in the Hades and kill you again."

\- "Are you using mythology against me?" –I smiled surprised she knew about it and never told me.

\- "I was waiting for the right moment to impress you with my little knowledge on the subject, yeah." –she smirked.

\- "Alright you two, enough flirting, get a room once we are done here, will you?"

\- "Oh, we already have a room." –she smiled, moving away from us.

\- "Wao." –Murphy said- "I didn't know you had already gone there. Since when is this going on, huh?"

\- "We haven't done anything Murphy, she's messing with you."

\- "Yeah, the way you both interact is pretty ordinary, sure." –he paused for a moment- "Thank you."

\- "For?"

\- "Saving her; she told me she would be dead if it weren't for you."

\- "I couldn't just let her die, she's too important."

\- "She is."

Murphy agreed with me as we both looked over at Sam's figure sat on the edge as she talked with Mel to calm her down.  _What would we do without her? What would I do?_


	3. Reunions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team makes a risky attempt to save Mel’s life, but things won’t go as smoothly as they’d wished for because company soon arrives. Luckily, a happy arrival is there to save the day.

**SAM'S POV**

After I told Mel what we were going to do, Bellamy was finally all tied up and secure to go down for her. He moved towards the edge as the rest of us picked up the rope we've made and took positions: Murphy was the closest to the edge, I stood behind him followed by Finn and Monroe at the end.  _This better work._

\- "Alright, ease it out slowly." –Murphy instructed everyone.

We started to let go little by little of the rope so that Bellamy would descend as slowly and carefully as possible.

\- "Just hang on, I'm almost there." –I heard Bellamy tell Mel.

After a couple minutes of uncertainty since none of us could really see what was going on down there, the weight on the rope increased.

\- "I got her!" –Bellamy yelled- "Pull us up!"

\- "Don't you worry, Bellamy. I won't drop you."

\- "Just pull, Murphy." –Finn yelled at him.

The four of us started pulling them back up, slowly but surely; but suddenly, the rope snatched between Murphy and me, making Monroe, Finn and I fall back down as Murphy was left with all the weight.  _Bellamy! No!_  I quickly stood up as my heart started racing even faster and took the rope from in front of Murphy as Finn and Monroe moved next to us to keep pulling back.

\- "What the hell is happening up there?" –Bellamy yelled.

\- "Just hold on!" –Finn answered him.

As we managed to get them stable again, arrows started flying towards us.

\- "Grounders!" –Monroe yelled.

\- "Monroe, cover us." –Finn said giving her his rifle- "Go."

\- "How many are there?" –Bellamy asked.

\- "We can't see them." –I answered.

\- "They're in the trees! Aim for the trees Monroe!" –Finn yelled.

A spear flew towards us and Murphy moved to one side and Finn and I to the other, Murphy being left with all the weight yet again.

\- "Alright, that's it." –I said taking the rifle Bellamy had left on the floor- "Finn, help Murphy, I'll go help Monroe."

Finn nodded at me and I moved next to Monroe and started shooting at the trees. We had been able to shoot a couple Grounders when Monroe was hit, falling to her side.

\- "Fuck no." –I moved her behind a rock to keep her covered- "We're so fucked right now."

\- "He's gotta cut her loose, we can't do this." –Murphy started- "Bellamy, you gotta cut her loose!" –he shouted now.

\- "No way." –Bellamy yelled back.

\- "Murphy, shut up and pull!" –I shouted as I kept shooting towards the trees.

A horn started blowing in the distance.

\- "Seriously?!" –I yelled- "Acid fog, right now?"

As the Grounders stopped shooting arrows at us, I moved towards Finn and Murphy and started to help them pull Bellamy and Mel back up. Monroe moved beside me and started pulling again too. After what seemed like hours, we were able to see first Mel and then Bellamy pushing her to solid ground. Mel crashed over Finn as I moved towards Bellamy, hugging him, making us both fall to the ground. I buried my face on his neck as he hugged me back and stroke my hair as all the emotions hit me. He sat back up pulling me to sit on his lap. I looked up at him but didn't know what to say so instead I placed my hands on his face and rested my forehead against his, eyes closed.

\- "I know." –he stroke my check- "But I'm fine, don't you worry."

\- "We have to take cover from the fog." –Finn said as he sat up beside us.

Bellamy nodded and I rose from his lap offering him my hand to stand up. As we both stood up a voice I'd missed endlessly echoed through our ears.

\- "Bellamy? Sam?"

 _Octavia. She's back._  Bellamy's face illuminated as he moved towards the voice while I turned around to see Octavia.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "She blew the horn." –Murphy stated.

\- "Octavia!" –I walked towards her.

She smiled at me and, as she stood in front of me, I opened my arms for her and he hugged me as relief ran through my veins.  _She's alive and uninjured._  As we broke the hug she looked behind me and her smile grew bigger if that was even possible. I turned to see Sam with tears in her eyes. Octavia ran towards her.

\- "Sam!"

\- "I love you, O." –Sam spoke as she hugged O- "So much, and I knew you were gonna be fine but I..."

\- "Shhh..." –O softly spoke as she stroke Sam's hair- "I love you too, Sam."

I stood beside them, happily witnessing the reunion of the two people I cared for the most.  _Sam kept her word, 'I love you' have really been the first words she's told her._  Octavia broke the hug and looked at me.

\- "Come here, big brother!"

I smiled as she motioned for me to join their hug. I embraced each of them in one of my arms.

\- "I love you both so much." –Sam spoke against my chest and then she looked at Octavia- "And I'm so glad you are back, I was already getting bored without you."

\- "I missed you too."

I cleared my throat as I let go of them.

\- "If I'm interrupting something here, just let me know."

\- "Don't be stupid, you both only have eyes for each other." –Octavia laughed.

\- "I mean, can you blame me?" –Sam crossed her arms over her chest as she looked me up and down.

\- "Alright, enough." –I smiled- "You've barely just reunited and I'm already done with you both together."

\- "I'm not even going to pretend I believe you." –Sam retorted smiling- "I'll give you both some time."

**SAM'S POV**

I left the Blake siblings to catch up while I went to talk with Murphy.

\- "Hey."

\- "Hi, Sam."

\- "Thank you." –I sat down beside him- "You really came through back there with the rope and stuff."

\- "Well, I couldn't let Bellamy die after he's been so good to you."

\- "You are a good person Murphy, even if you don't want to admit it." –I punched him lightly in the upper arm.

\- "Maybe I'm learning from you."

\- "Huh, sure." –I smiled at him.

Octavia had now moved to check Monroe's wound.

\- "Thank God that you came when you did." –Monroe told Octavia.

\- "I was going back to camp when I heard shots."

\- "Nice foghorn. What happened to your boyfriend?"

Murphy asked as he took the horn to inspect it but, as soon as Octavia saw him, she took it away from him.  _Will he ever learn to shut up?_

\- "He's gone."

_Wait what?_

\- "Right."

Murphy left as I moved next to Octavia and Bellamy squatted beside me.

\- "I'm sorry, O." –he calmly spoke- "We both are."

\- "We're here for you, alright?" –I added- "Whatever it is that you need."

Octavia looked at us and nodded. She quickly rose up and took her things.

\- "The Grounders will be back so we need to go. Now."

\- "Yes, we do." –Finn agreed.

Octavia, Bellamy and I moved towards where Finn was checking the Grounder's map.

\- "Octavia says the arrow might be poisoned. I have to take them home."

\- "I know." –Finn answered handing Bellamy a copy of the map.

\- "I'll meet you as soon as I can."

\- "I know." –Finn said starting to move.

\- "Parting. Such sweet sorrow, right?" –Murphy said moving towards us.

\- "Where the hell do you think you're going?" –Bellamy asked him.

\- "Come on, Bellamy. You know if I go with you, they'll just lock me up again."

\- "Yeah." –I agreed while taking my things- "That's why we are going to take care of Finn."

\- "Sam..." –Bellamy spoke making me face him- "...please."

\- "You know I have to go. Finn is not okay." –I reminded him- "Besides, now I have someone to keep an eye on you." –I smiled at Octavia.

\- "I'll keep an eye on him, Sam, but you have to come back, promise me." –Octavia moved closer to me.

\- "I promise you, I'll come back." –I hugged her.

Octavia hugged me back and then moved towards Monroe to help her stand. In the meantime, Bellamy had given Murphy his rifle and he had started going after Finn. Bellamy then moved towards me.

\- "I know you don't want me to go, but now it's my turn to step up."

\- "I also know it's what needs to be done and I won't stop you, but that doesn't mean I like this arrangement." –he sighed- "I'll look for you as soon as I get them home."

\- "I'll be waiting impatiently." –I smirked- "Be careful, you've scared me enough today for the next week at least."

\- "You too, you have to come back home."

\- "You know, the only home I know is wherever you and O are."

\- "Then come back to us." –he stated taking my hand in his and pulling me into a hug- "Come back to me."

I hugged him back and kissed his jaw as I pulled back.

\- "I always will."

I took a last glance at him and the rest of the group who were now ready to go and then started walking towards Murphy and Finn who were actually waiting for me.  _Here goes nothing._

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

Once I had everything I needed, I looked back at Bellamy and Sam saying goodbye. She glanced at me one last time before moving away. Bellamy turned around and walked towards me.

\- "She'll be fine. She's hard to kill, just like us." –I smiled.

\- "She really almost died during the battle with the Grounders."

\- "What? What happened?"

\- "She had a lot of wounds, she'd lost a lot of blood..." –Bellamy sighed- "I really thought I had lost her for good, O."

\- "How...?" –I didn't finish the question but Bellamy understood.

\- "I donated my blood for her."

\- "So..." –I smiled- "...turns out she will end up being a Blake after all."

\- "Apparently." –he chuckled.

\- "And she even gave you a goodbye kiss, now that's something I never thought I'd see thinking back to the firsts days we were down here."

\- "Yeah, I guess we all ended up warming up to each other." –he turned his face to look at the group- "But now I have to get the rest home and I can't do it without you."

\- "Of course you can't." –I laughed- "But we will talk about what's going on between you two, eventually." –I assured him.

\- "Alright, let's go, then."

We traveled for longer than a day since we couldn't move too fast due to Mel and Monroe's injuries and once we finally arrived at what Bellamy had explained me to be our new camp, the welcoming wasn't so warming. As soon as we put a foot inside, all of our weapons were taken, we were almost treated like prisoners, although I can't say I was surprised. A woman whom I recognized as Clarke's mom soon came to us.

\- "I know you." –she said looking at Mel- "Factory station. Where are the others?"

\- "There are no others." –Mel answered.

\- "We found her a day from here. No survivors, lots of supplies." –Bellamy informed her.

\- "Get her to medical." –she instructed another woman and then took Monroe with her.

As I turned to face Bellamy, someone with blonde hair almost ran over me and towards him, throwing themselves to Bellamy and hugging him tightly.  _Clarke, what is she doing here? Are the others back too? Where's Sam?_  Bellamy took some time to hug her back but he eventually did.

\- "I guess it's the time for me to see things I never thought I'd see."

Clarke smiled and hugged me too.

\- "I'm glad you're okay."

\- "You too."

\- "How many are with you?" –Bellamy asked impatiently.

\- "None."

Raven stood up now next to Clarke and, after greeting us, joined the conversation.

\- "Where's Finn?" –Clarke asked.

\- "And Sam?" –Raven added- "Didn't she leave with you, Bellamy?"

\- "They are both looking for you, Clarke."

**SAM'S POV**

We had finally made it to the Grounder's camp and were now hidden behind the trees looking inside.

\- "I count 26." –Finn informed us.

\- "I got 28." –Murphy said.

\- "Did you both fail math?" –I asked- "There are clearly 30 Grounders in there."

\- "Well, none of them look like warriors anyway." –Murphy almost ignored me- "Just kids and old people. There's nothing big enough to hold our friends."

\- "They could be underground."

Murphy looked at me and I just sighed when Finn spoke again.

\- "We wait until dark..."

\- "For what?" –I interrupted him- "You can't seriously be thinking of attacking them, can you?"

\- "Once it's dark enough, we'll go in."

\- "In? Finn, we don't even know if our people are there!"

\- "They're here." –Finn answered aggressively- "Or they were when that Grounder took Clarke's watch."

\- "You know he could have been lying, don't you?"

\- "They could also be already dead..."

Murphy was saying but Finn cut him off by punching him backward and throwing him to the floor.

\- "Hey, take it easy." –I stepped in between them.

\- "How much ammo do we have?" –Finn asked me.

\- "You know? I think I liked you better as a peacemaker." –Murphy stated.

**CLARKE'S POV**

After I had told Bellamy, Octavia, and Raven everything that had been going on, about us being captured by the Mountain Men and the experiments those people were running on Grounders, I went to meet my mom to know when we could leave to go after Sam, Murphy, and Finn; only to be met with a negative answer and a weak excuse, but Bellamy was having none of it.

\- "You're sorry?" –he asked as we both turned around to face him- "Finn, Murphy, and Sam are out there looking for your daughter with guns you gave us; and now that Clarke's home you're just going to abandon them?" –Bellamy waited for her answer but her silence was enough for him- "If you can't spare the guards, we know the terrain, we have a map, we can do it ourselves."

\- "No. Absolutely not."

\- "Mom."

\- "I just got you back." –her voice broke.

\- "Abbie." –Jackson came in running interrupting the conversation- "I'm sorry, we need you in medical."

\- "You better go."

\- "Byrne." –Abbie called- "No one leaves this camp."

\- "Yes, ma'am."

Abbie left and I turned to face Bellamy.

\- "We're gonna need guns."

Soon after, I met Raven and Bellamy at the outskirts of the camp, near the fence that had been electrified.

\- "Hey." –I joined them- "My mom's in surgery, and the team going after Kane just left. We should too."

\- "Did you find Octavia?"

\- "No. I found you." –Octavia said appearing from behind Bellamy- "I'm not letting you leave here without me, Sam is..."

\- "Octavia." –I tried to speak but she cut me off.

\- "Finn, Murphy, and Sam are headed for Lincoln's village. I have been there, have any of you? Besides, that's my best friend out there looking for you."

\- "You done?" –Bellamy asked, handing her the bag we had prepared for her.

\- "What's this?"

\- "Your pack." –Bellamy smiled at her as she took it- "Lead the way."

\- "Whoa." –Raven stopped her- "Not so fast, Pocahontas."

She then proceeded to touch the fence with one of her crutches and a spark of electricity made us jump away.

\- "I thought you said it was handled." –I angrily told Raven.

\- "It is." –Raven calmly told her as she took her walkie-talkie- "Shut her down, Wick."

After that, the radio beeped two times and Raven touched the fence again without any consequences this time.

\- "Handled." –Raven happily informed us.

I nodded as Octavia lost no time to get out of the camp. Bellamy followed her and I joined them on the other side and we started to move away from camp as fast as we could, trying not to get caught. We followed the map Finn had given Bellamy and, as nighttime came over us, we camped to rest. I had lied to rest and, when I woke up, I saw Bellamy completely lost in thought looking at the fire. Raven had told me about what had happened with Sam and I knew he was thinking about her. I moved to sit up and he looked at me.

\- "Hey." –I almost whispered.

\- "Last time I saw you, you were closing the dropship door." –he looked at me and I felt regret washing my face- "It had to be done."

\- "Did you get any sleep?"

\- "It's okay. I'll sleep when we find them."

\- "She is strong, Bellamy. I'm sure she's alright." –he looked at me as if he didn't know what I was talking about- "Raven told me what happened to Sam and how you saved her."

\- "I know she is. We all have to be." –he said trying to avoid the conversation I had started.

\- "Bellamy..."

\- "Of course I'm worried about her, how couldn't I? But I'm also concerned about Finn." –he looked at me- "You haven't seen him, Clarke; losing you, the others, the war, it changed him. He executed the Grounder that drew us the map, pulled the trigger without even blinking and walked away."

\- "That doesn't sound like Finn."

\- "No, it doesn't." –he confirmed- "I saw what he was capable of and still I let him go with Murphy and two automatic rifles."

\- "I'm sure that had to be done too." –I told him- "Sam's with them, she'll know how to handle them, you know what she's capable of."

\- "I just hope we are not too late."

We stood in silence for a little while.

\- "So..." –Bellamy started- "First we find Finn, Murphy, and Sam, then our people in Mount Weather."

\- "And Lincoln." –Octavia said moving up- "I think we've slept long enough."

She looked at us and stood up, picking up her stuff. Bellamy looked at me and nodded and then we were on our way.

**SAM'S POV**

When it was finally nighttime, Finn, Murphy and I entered the camp and started looking around but couldn't do much since we were surrounded by Grounders working and moving around, even if unaware of our existence. Suddenly Finn took one of the torches illuminating the camp.

\- "What are you doing?" –Murphy asked him- "This isn't part of your plan."

\- "I'm changing the plan." –Finn answered as Murphy looked at me, confused.

Finn started moving towards one of the buildings with the torch.

\- "This is their food." –he informed us as he threw the torch inside.

\- "What are you doing, you idiot?" –I asked him, trying to keep it low as he ran to hide.

 _If we weren't at war earlier, we sure as hell are now._  Soon enough a woman saw the fire and started yelling in their language what I assumed meant 'fire'. Grounders started appearing from every part of the village and started trying to end the fire.

\- "A distraction? Not bad."

\- "Let's go."

We started moving around camp, carefully not to be seen. I moved after Finn, trying to keep an eye on him as Murphy guarded our back. Someone yelling behind us stopped me dead on my tracks and, as I turned around, I saw Murphy knocking down a Grounder that had seen us.

\- "You good?"

\- "Yeah." –he grabbed my arm- "But we need to run."

\- "No, we can't." –Finn stopped us- "They'll kill our people."

\- "They'll kill us!" –Murphy argued.

But Finn wasn't listening, he took the Grounder hostage and started shooting into the air, scaring all the Grounders around us.

\- "Who's in charge here?" –Finn started yelling.

A Grounder finally stood forward.

\- "Our leader isn't here. You can deal with me."

\- "Nobody has to get hurt. We just want our people back."

\- "We don't have your people."

 _I mean, obviously._  I was starting to get concerned about what Finn would do next. I looked over at Murphy who seemed to be thinking just the same.

\- "Then you won't mind if we look around." –Finn stated.

I rolled my eyes as Murphy tilted his head in disapproval. Without any type of warning, Finn dropped the Grounder and pointed his rifle at the one standing in front of us.  _This is so not going to end well._  Finn ordered me and Murphy to watch the Grounders that were all now kneeling inside a fold while he searched for our people. He took all night so I assumed he even looked under each rock for them.

\- "I'm getting tired of this new Finn." –I started- "It's crystal clear our people were never here."

\- "Yeah, tell that to Finn; he thinks that Grounder was being serious." –Murphy scoffed.

\- "I mean, I wanna say it was pretty obvious he was lying."

\- "Care to explain?"

\- "He said this was the place where they took their war prisoners. You were a war prisoner and you've never been here so..." –I explained- "Aside from right now, obviously."

\- "Seems like you still catch up on everything faster than anyone else." –Murphy smiled my way.

I looked at the Grounders again, I felt so bad for doing this but I also knew that whatever I did had to be carefully measured because Finn was about to snap and, probably, in the worst way possible considering the events from the last couple of days. One of the Grounders couldn't have been much older than us; he looked at Murphy and then at me and then around.  _He's looking for a way out. I don't blame him, I'd do the same, but right now running away would be the worst thing he could do considering Finn is armed._

\- "Please, don't." –I told him- "We don't wanna hurt you. We won't hurt you, I promise you."

He looked at the Grounder next to him, the leader, who looked at me and then at the kid and pushed him down. I nodded at him, to let him know I was on their side.

\- "I told you, we don't have your people."

\- "Stop talking." –Murphy answered as I sighed.

Finn passed behind us running, again.

\- "You find something?" –Murphy asked- "Finn!" –he yelled since he got no answer.

\- "Finn are you alright?" –I questioned moving towards where Finn had run.

Next thing I know, Murphy is pointing his rifle at the kid and screaming.

\- "On your knees! Now!"

\- "Murphy, stop. He's just scared." –I pleaded moving beside him.

Murphy looked at me and moved away, yelling for Finn to show up. Finn appeared running, enraged is the best adjective I can find to describe his state. He jumped inside the fold and threw some jacket in front of their leader.

\- "What have you done with them?"

He asked once and pointed his gun at the Grounder's head.

\- "Hey, Finn, come on man." –Murphy tried to interfere.

\- "Their clothes are here. They were here."

\- "You don't know that Finn." –I stepped in front of him- "I want to find them as much as you but look around, these people are scavengers, can't you see that?"

\- "They killed them!"

 _He's out of control, he won't listen to reason. What the fuck do we do now?_  He recharged his rifle and pointed it again at the Grounder. Some of the others started to raise and I feared the worst, but the one Finn was pointing at spoke to them in their language and they all backed down.

\- "Your friends were not here. I saw one, Octavia, but she was alone."

_Octavia? Wait, what?_

\- "Finn, Sam's right. They are scavengers, they could have found that stuff anywhere."

Finn took one of the girls and threw her to the ground, pointing her gun at her. Murphy yelled at him to stop.

\- "Finn, listen to me."

\- "Get off me." –Finn yelled at Murphy and placed his boot over the girls back.

\- "Finn." –I said pointing my gun at him- "Get out of there and leave the girl alone. Now."

\- "Come on Finn, let's just walk out of here while we still can, okay?" –Murphy pleaded.

\- "If you shoot her this will be your end, Finn." –I told him- "You can't do this. They haven't done anything to you; these are innocent people."

Finn finally let the girl go and got out of there.

\- "I'm sorry." –I told the leader- "I hope she'll be alright."

He just nodded at me and I looked at Finn who was now next to Murphy.

\- "Look, just because their clothes are here, doesn't mean anything." –Murphy insisted.

\- "He told us our friends were here, why would he do that?"

\- "I don't know, maybe because you had a gun to his head and you were not believing anything he said?" –I cynically argued.

\- "Maybe he didn't want to lose his only good eye?" –Murphy added sarcastically.

\- "A man with one eye?" –the Grounder from before stood up, speaking- "You saw Delano. A snake, a thief. He and his man were cast out; you are his revenge."

_Oh glorious grace, revenge? Really? Why are we always in the middle of this shit?_

\- "It makes sense, Finn." –Murphy said and started walking away- "We need to go. Now."

\- "Finn, you know we are right, let's go."

We were about to walk away and Finn started turning around when an old man started running away. Finn turned around and shoot him.

\- "Finn, what the fuck?" –I pushed him back.

\- "He was just trying to get away." –the Grounder's leader said.

\- "Come one." –Murphy pulled Finn back, trying to get away.

The young kid from before was now on the move and started running. Finn got rid of Murphy and killed him as soon as he jumped the fence.  _No._  A bunch of Grounders started running away and Finn started to follow them and kill them one by one. I saw the leader trying to get them to stop, but he couldn't take care of all of them. I knew I had to do something. Murphy was screaming and trying to pull him back, but Finn wasn't thinking and so, I acted.

\- "Finn, if you don't stop right this second..."

Finn ignored me and now started shooting at everyone that moved.  _I'm sorry Finn._  I ran to him, took my gun by its barrel and, as soon as I was next to Finn, I hit him with the back of my gun as hard as I could while pushing him to the side. For a second I thought he didn't even feel it, but he stopped pulling the trigger and looked at me in disbelief. I moved to be just in front of his rifle.

\- "If you are gonna keep shooting, Finn, you'll have to do it through me."

\- "Sam no, please, don't do this." –Murphy pleaded me.

Finn looked at me dead in the eye and rested his rifle on my chest. I was ready for him to shoot, I was sure he was going to, but his eyes drifted away and behind me.  _Alright, what now?_


	4. Maybe it's true.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little chapter out of the plot for y’all that can be summarized as actual fluff, you’re welcome.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

We heard gunshots and we started running, but we were too late. Once we got there, I doubt any of us could believe what we were seeing: bodies of dead Grounders in front of us, Murphy standing on one side looking at us with concerned eyes and Finn with his rifle to Sam's chest.  _Sam._  Octavia started running towards them and I moved after her as Clarke stood there looking at Finn, almost paralyzed.

\- "Sam! Sam! What happened? Are you okay?" –Octavia asked hugging Sam.

\- "I'm fine, O." –Sam muttered hugging her back- "But I wasn't good enough."

Octavia broke the hug and looked at Sam who was looking at nothing in particular, like she had completely zoned out. Right beside Sam was a young kid, dead, on the arms of another Grounder.

\- "Artigas." –Octavia breathed out as she looked at him.

Octavia looked at me and I nodded, understanding what she meant. She moved to the Grounder's side and I moved towards Sam; she didn't see me walking up to her, it was as if she weren't even there.

\- "Sam?" –I softly spoke- "Are you hurt?"

She blinked a couple times and focused her attention on me.

\- "I'm sorry." –she whispered- "We tried to stop him but he wasn't listening, I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to kill him so I tried knocking him down but he didn't even flinch."

\- "I'm just glad you're okay." –I stroke her cheek and, as I touched her, a tear fell down her face- "Hey, it's alright, it's not your fault."

\- "It's not alright, Bellamy." –she sighed- "I failed to stop him and he killed all these innocent people. If we weren't at war earlier, we sure as hell are now."

She looked beside us, to where Octavia was kneeling beside the two Grounders. The older one was looking at Finn with poison in his eyes but, when he laid eyes on Sam, his gaze softened.

\- "I'm sorry." –Sam spoke and the Grounder nodded before looking back down to the dead kid.

Sam looked behind me now.

\- "Clarke. You found her!"

\- "It's a long story. Not a happy one, Sam."

\- "Well." –she sighed- "Can't say I'm surprised, but I have all the time in the world right now."

We were now both looking at Clarke as Finn approached her.

\- "I found you." –Finn started as he stood in front of Clarke.

\- "He better be joking right now." –Sam crossed her arms over her chest.

\- "I think he actually believes what he is saying."

\- "I better leave before I burst his little bubble with my bare hands." –she looked around- "Besides, there's nothing we can do for these people and I really don't want to be anywhere near Finn right now."

\- "Then let's go."

I took one of her hands in mine and started guiding her out of there, to which she didn't oppose. I told Octavia we were leaving and she nodded, letting me know she'll come after us in a second; Murphy joined us and, as we passed by Finn and Clarke, she turned to walk with us and Finn followed.

\- "Sam." –Clarke spoke as Sam let go of my hand and we all stopped walking.

\- "I'm so glad you are alright Clarke, and I can't wait to know where the fuck you were but right now I can't stand being near Finn." –she hugged her- "I'm sorry."

\- "I understand." –Clarke hugged her back- "I'll talk to you back in camp." -she broke the hug and smiled- "Go."

Sam nodded and started moving away from us. Murphy pushed me forward slightly and I looked in annoyance at him.

\- "What are you waiting for? Go after her or I'll go myself."

I looked at Clarke with a questioning look.

\- "We'll be fine. Now go, she likes to be alone but I'm sure she'll enjoy your company too."

I nodded and started running after Sam; luckily, she was just walking in the direction of camp so I found her soon enough.

\- "I was wondering how long it'd take you." –she softly spoke as I walked beside her.

\- "I can leave if you want to be alone." –I offered as she looked at me with her eyebrow raised.

\- "I like being with you." –she stated without a trace of untruthfulness in her voice- "Besides, you have to tell me what you were up to while I was gone and what happened with Clarke and Monty and Jasper." –she smiled.

\- "Fine. But first, I need to know you are okay."

\- "I'm fine... I just couldn't stand being around him knowing I couldn't stop him. I even placed myself in front of him and he looked at me as if he didn't see me; I'm sure he would have shot."

\- "I'm sure you did the best you could, you always do. Although I'm not very keen on the part where you deliberately placed yourself in front of the gun."

\- "I promised that little kid, Artigas, we wouldn't hurt them."

I nodded understanding what she meant so I measured my next words carefully.

\- "Sam, you didn't hurt them. You were ready to give your life for theirs. You tried to protect them as best as you could; it's not your fault Finn acted like that." –I made her stop walking and took her hands in mines- "That Grounder, the leader, he looked so angry and disgusted at Finn but, when he looked at you, all those feelings left his face. I'm sure he knows you were trying to help them; I'm sure they know this is not on you."

Sam looked at me as I spoke and, as I finished, she smiled and hugged me, resting her head on my shoulder and kissing my neck. I smiled hugging her back and kissed her cheek. When she broke the hug, she looked up at me, smiling.

\- "How come you always know what to say to make me feel better?"

\- "Practice, probably." –I smiled.

She rolled her eyes playfully at me and took one of my hands in hers and started walking, pulling me with her.

\- "So, where are you taking me, huh?" –I smirked as she looked at me.

\- "Don't get any ideas, Bell."

\- "You are the one practically pulling me, Sam."

\- "Yeah..." –she chuckled- "...to camp."

\- "To our room?"

\- "Ugh, c'mon stop that." –she laughed letting go of my hand- "I'm personally walking straight to see Raven and then getting some food, you can go wherever you please."

\- "That plan suits me too." –I smiled- "We can always do something else afterward."

She punched my upper arm lightly and laughed.

\- "Thank you." –I gave her a questioning look- "For making everything seem better." –she clarified.

\- "Anything for you, Sam." –she looked away trying to hide her face- "There's the blush again, huh?"

\- "Well now we just have to put one on your face and we'll be equal. Although that has proven hard in the past, you are much better with words than I am." –she shrugged her shoulders.

\- "It takes practice but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." –I laughed.

\- "Mmm... Is that a challenge, Blake?" –she raised her eyebrow.

\- "Not really." –I answered unconvinced.

\- "Well, that's great because I'm not about to lose to you."

\- "Did you just admit I finally won you at something?" –I chuckled.

\- "Yeah, don't let it get to your head, mister." –she grinned- "Now, would you like to tell me what happened now or over dinner?"

\- "Are you asking me on a date?"

\- "Well, since you are not asking me, I assumed I had to do it myself like everything else in this relationship." –she looked up at me with a straight face as I felt a tiny amount of heat rushing through my face- "Oh my god, did I just manage to make you blush? Well, never mind Blake, I'm back in the game!" –she laughed throwing her hands in the air.

\- "Whatever, Sam." –I brushed her off moving my hand in the air and walking away.

\- "Oh, come on!" –she rushed beside me- "You know I like you too much to hurt you intentionally, don't be mad."

\- "I could never be mad at you." –I smiled taking her hand.

\- "Well, that has proven incorrect a couple times." -she chuckled- "I can't believe you just faked being mad just to get me to walk with you like this." –she spoke as she raised our hands with our fingers intertwined.

\- "Well, it worked, right?" –I smiled.

\- "You could have just asked, just like with everything else."

And so we walked like that for a couple hours till we got back to camp. I decided to explain everything to Sam when we were back and Clarke could join me to better explain what was going on inside Mount Weather. Once we arrived and we handed in our weapons, I lost sight of Sam.  _She probably went to check on Raven._  I made my way towards the established place where we had our meals, getting something for me and for her, hoping that she'd eventually show up.

**SAM'S POV**

Bellamy had joined me when I left Clarke and the others behind which I honestly appreciated for the simple reason that I enjoyed his company, even if we didn't speak. Once we got to camp, I rushed to look for Raven who was now walking around according to what Bellamy had told me. I finally found her walking with a crutch.

\- "Raven!" –I screamed to get her attention.

\- "Oh my goodness, Sam!" –she exclaimed turning around- "You're alright!"

\- "Well, excuse me!" –I laughed as I moved to hug her- "I had to come back to see you, don't mind me."

\- "You know what I mean, idiot." –Raven laughed.

\- "So, how are you doing?"

\- "I'm able to move around, that's something, although I need this stupid thing."

\- "Give it some time, I'm 100% confident you'll be back in both legs in no-time. If anyone can do that, it's you."

\- "Thank you, Sam." –she smiled- "I really appreciate that."

\- "Whatever you need." –I smiled- "I'm going to look for some dinner, wanna come?"

\- "I'll leave you to it cause I already ate. I'm going to bed."

\- "I'll see you tomorrow then. Scream for me if you need me!"

\- "Oh, I sure can do that, Sam."

I blew her a kiss and turned around to get some food. I saw Bellamy on one of the tables with his back to me, curiously talking with Mel. I walked up to them and placed my hands in front of Bellamy's eyes.

\- "I thought you knew better than to come up to me like that, Sam." –he took my hands in his and turned his head to face me- "I could have hurt you."

\- "I'm sure you'd like to try."

\- "Is that a challenge?" –he questioned with a smirk on his face.

\- "Maybe for later, now I'm going to try and get something to eat."

\- "Already thought of that." –he said and pointed to a plate in front of him.

\- "Have I ever told you how much I love you and how you are the actual best?"

\- "Not really." –he smiled as I sat next to him- "But it'd be nice to hear it more often."

\- "Then I'll make sure to say it more."

Someone clearing their throat made me realize Bellamy had company.

\- "Well, how rude am I?" –I looked at her- "I'm sorry, Mel. I'm Samantha."

\- "Yeah, I remember you." –she gave a soft smile- "You talked to me when Bellamy rescued me."

\- "We all did, it was teamwork." –Bellamy quickly argued.

\- "He is so kind and noble, isn't he?" –I smiled looking at Mel and she nodded.

\- "He is my hero."

\- "I mean, how could he not?" –I chuckled- "How are you feeling anyway, Mel?"

\- "I'm fine." –she quickly brushed off my question- "But how are you guys? Bellamy, I heard you went on a mission to rescue the rest."

I chuckled as I realized that Mel probably had a tiny crush on Bellamy and I decided to play along.  _She's probably wishing I'd banish so she can talk to Bellamy alone._

\- "Oh yes, Bellamy please do tell her about all the times you've saved us." –I looked at Mel- "There's a reason we named him King of the camp back when we were alone down here. I'm sure he'll be pleased to tell you all about it." –I winked at her and stood up.

\- "Where are you going?" –Bellamy asked me.

\- "I'm going to finish this and go to bed."

\- "But..."

\- "Shh..." –I whispered lowering so that only he could hear me now- "She likes you and wants to know more about you, so be nice to her, alright? But don't mislead her or I'll kick your ass." –I threatened him playfully, squeezing his shoulder- "Goodnight, Mel. Don't let this big bad wolf scare you." –I laughed.

Mel quickly stood up and came to hug me, which was unexpected, to say the least.

\- "Thank you." –she whispered in my ear- "I just kind of like him."

\- "I mean, how could someone not?" –I chuckled- "If he is mean, come talk to me, alright?"

Mel nodded smiling and moved back to her seat as Bellamy gave me a questioning look.

\- "Goodnight Blake, you don't have a curfew so don't bother coming home early!" –I noted trying to hold back a laugh but failing miserably.

\- "Fine." –he finally agreed- "I'll see you later and we'll have a talk."

\- "Uh, can't wait!" –I sarcastically told him.

I left them there still not over the situation.  _Mel is so cute, she's probably one or two years younger than me and she's already almost died. Earth is truly a dangerous place._  Once I entered the room's area I realized I didn't technically have a room.  _Well now, this is just great._  I could have asked Raven earlier where she was staying but I obviously think of everything too late.  _Well, I'd take care of this some other time I'm not about to fall asleep._  I walked around until I found a room that looked familiar.  _I'm guessing this is probably where Bellamy took me the other day. I'm also guessing he won't mind and if he does... I'm too tired to even think of a comeback right now._  I entered the room, closed the door and collapsed onto the bed right after taking off my jacket, pants, and boots. It didn't take me too long to fall asleep, which was kind of weird.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After Sam left I tried my best to keep the conversation going. Mel wanted to know everything we, or most probably I, had been doing down here while telling me a little about herself; she was a nice girl and I kind of felt bad for being such bad company but she didn't seem to mind.

\- "Bellamy?" –Mel questioned bringing me back from my thoughts- "You don't like me much, do you?"

\- "It's not that, Mel." –I tried to think of something- "I'm just tired, it's been a long day."

\- "Don't worry, Bellamy. The truth is I know you are into Sam and I think you guys are cute together."

\- "Wait, what?"

\- "Everyone on camp knows who you both are, I've heard stories about you." –she made a brief pause- "What you did for her, you truly love her, right?"

 _This is not where I pictured this conversation going._  Since I didn't answer, Mel kept talking.

\- "People say you guys are like soulmates, it's cute if you think about it, how you have each other's back and everything. I just wished I had someone like that."

\- "You'll find someone, Mel. It takes time."

\- "Thank you for being so nice to me." –she said standing up- "Also thank Sam for letting me do this."

\- "I will."

Mel smiled and waved goodbye before leaving me alone at the table.  _Well, that was interesting._  After going over what Mel said I decided to go to bed because I was truly not lying when I told her I was tired.  _Where could Sam be? Maybe she went back to the room I took her the other night._  I made my way there, finding the door closed. I knocked but no one answered.

\- "Sam?" –I asked opening the door softly.

Still, no one answered but there was someone in the bed.  _Wait, what if it's not Sam? That'd be weird._  I considered my options while looking around when the person in the bed moved.

\- "Bell?" –Sam's voice was sleepy and quiet- "Is that you?"

\- "Yeah."

\- "Is it the morning already?"

\- "No." –I chuckled- "It's only been like 30 minutes since you left me with Mel."

\- "I'm too tired to discuss your dating life right now, honestly, so please tell me you weren't both about to have sex in here because I already claimed the bed."

\- "No, Sam." –I smiled even though I knew she couldn't see me.

\- "What happened? Wanna talk?" –she said rubbing her eyes and sitting up on the bed.

\- "Nothing, she realized I didn't like her that way."

\- "How come?"

\- "Apparently people around here talk too much."

\- "If I have to punch someone's face write their name down for tomorrow morning."

\- "We don't have to punch anyone." –I laughed.

\- "Then what are they saying for Mel to think she didn't have a chance with you."

I knew she was just staying up because she thought I needed to talk, but her eyes where shutting heavily and I knew she was falling asleep.

\- "Sam, you are about to fall asleep. Come on, lie down. I'll come for you in the morning."

\- "No way." –she said pulling me back- "Stay with me."

\- "Sure?"

\- "I'll be honest, I like sleeping with you. I feel like I rest more if you're with me, which I know is silly but whatever. Besides, waking up to see you first thing I open my eyes is not a bad sight either, you know?" –she tried to wink but both her eyes remained closed.

\- "Actually, it's not silly, Sam." –I said taking off my jacket and sitting on the bed to take off my boots- "I feel the same way about sleeping with you."

\- "Well, aren't those good news."

\- "Did you take off your pants?"

\- "Well, I figured since you take off your t-shirt then I should also take off something else to balance your lack of clothes." –she said lying on the bed with her eyes closed, a scene that made me laugh- "It's not like you haven't seen me already without them on either, so..."

\- "If you wanted me to take off my shirt you could have just asked."

\- "Are you telling me that if I asked you to do that your mind wouldn't have immediately gone somewhere else?" –she chuckled softly.

\- "Now we'll never know." –I smiled taking off my shirt and lying beside her.

\- "I'll ask next time then."

\- "Fine, now go back to sleep." –I wrapped my arm around her- "I'm sorry I woke you up."

\- "If we end up like this, you can wake me up anytime you like."

I felt her breathing slow down as she fell back asleep.  _Soulmates, that's a funny term for us. Soulmates don't have to be lovers, I know, but the way Mel put it...the way I feel._

\- "You know..." –I started not really expecting an answer- "... according to Mel, everyone in camp thinks we are soulmates."

\- "Maybe we are." –Sam stated softly, sifting her position and placing her hand over my chest.

I knew she was not totally awake so I just hold her tighter and kissed her forehead.  _Maybe we are._


	5. How?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has been filled in with all the details about what is going on at Mount Weather. Clarke manages to convince her mother to go near the bunker to try at get their radio station down; what Abbie doesn’t know is that three people on her team have a different goal for the trip.

**CLARKE'S POV**

We've been back at camp Jaha for a couple days. Bellamy had asked me to sit with him to explain to Sam everything that had been going on at Mount Weather; saying that she didn't take it too well was an understatement. Since Monty disappeared she had maintained that he was still alive and now, knowing where he and Jasper were, it was easy to see she felt guilty for not being there with them. The second night we were back, the three of us had made already a habit to seat together during meal times to discuss what we were going to do after Sam was cleared from interrogation about what had happened at the village.

\- "So, how was it?" –I asked Sam.

\- "I've been cleared, I don't know about Murphy since I wasn't allowed to talk with him while the interrogation was taking place."

\- "What did they want to know?" –Bellamy asked curiously.

\- "Everything that happened at the village and what I did since I got here and until they found me walking around the next morning."

\- "And what did you say?"

\- "The truth." –Sam stated- "I explained what happened at the village and that once I came here I went to see how my best friend was doing, then I had dinner and then went straight to bed because I was tired of dealing with other people's messes."

Bellamy gave Sam a questioning look but she ignored him and faced me.

\- "Alright, enough about me, tell us again."

\- "It's a labyrinth." –I started explaining with the map I had made from the inside and outside of Mount Weather- "We got to the dam through this tunnel, it's all connected to the mine system. That's our way in."

\- "Sure, if we can get past the Reapers and the Mountain Men." –Bellamy argued- "I swear to God, if your mom doesn't sanction a mission soon I'm going by myself."

\- "If you actually think we would let you go alone into that torture chamber, you honestly haven't learned much from either of us since we've been down here."

\- "Sam's right, you wouldn't be by yourself."

Bellamy looked at us both and nodded. Behind him a familiar figure appeared on the distance. Sam and Bellamy turned to see who I was watching: Finn.

\- "I guess the inquisition's over." –Bellamy pointed out.

\- "Have you talk with him since you found us?" –Sam asked me.

\- "I haven't." –I admitted- "I don't know what to say. He just kept shooting."

\- "We're at war, Clarke. We've all done things." –Bellamy tried to make me feel better about it.

Finn had been walking towards us and was now right behind Sam, something she wasn't comfortable with and had no problems making it clear.

\- "And I'm gonna go now." –Sam stood up and squeezed my shoulder as she walked past me.

Finn looked at her but didn't say anything, he then looked at us.

\- "Hey."

\- "Hey." –Bellamy answered.

Finn kept his eyes fixed on me as Bellamy looked between us before realizing it was probably best to leave.

\- "Next round is on me."

He took his glass and left me with Finn.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

_The tension between those two could have been cut with a knife._  I moved towards the bar to get another drink as I saw that Sam was there too with Octavia, who saw me first since Sam was with her back to me, and made me a sign to join them.

\- "What are you up to, big brother?"

\- "Another drink. What about you both?"

\- "O was telling me what happened back with Lincoln."

\- "I see..."

\- "And with the other Grounders. How she came to know Nyko and everything."

\- "And what are you thinking?"

\- "Nothing. I just think is rather funny how somethings work." –I gave her a questioning look and she continued- "I mean, what were the chances of we being sent to the village where Nyko, who previously saved O, was? It looks like a big joke to me; I'm just sorry we practically destroyed Lincoln's village."

\- "He wouldn't hold it to you." –Octavia reassured her.

\- "Wait a second now, I'll stop talking about anything Lincoln-related in a second O because I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is and I'm sorry."

\- "It's fine. I'll be fine."

\- "I know you will." –Sam said squeezing her shoulder and jumping from the chair she was sat on- "But where is the bow he gave me? I know I can't really use it but I liked Lincoln and I'd like to have it back. I'm gonna talk to Abbie."

\- "Wait, we'll come with you." –I said as Octavia nodded- "It's not like we have anything to do anyway."

\- "And here I was thinking you actually enjoyed my company." –Sam smiled- "What a fool I am." –she added dramatically.

Octavia laughed at Sam's comment as I shook my head, defeated. Once we found Abbie, she was talking with Clarke, Raven and Major Byrne.

\- "You're not gonna stop, are you?" -Abbie asked Clarke.

\- "Not until my friends are safe."

\- "Okay, but I'm coming with you."

\- "Ma'am, I just said..." –Byrne tried to speak but Abbie interrupted her.

\- "It's been quiet for two days. Maybe Kane is making headway with the Grounders' commander."

\- "Or maybe he is dead and they are massing against us as we speak." –Byrne insisted.

\- "Maybe. Which is why we need more guards."

\- "More guards?" –Sam whispered as we remained unnoticed- "Yeah, that's exactly what's going to solve all of our problems and especially to get our friends back."

\- "Maybe they thought of another way in and they need more manpower." –Octavia spoke.

\- "Well, no offense but if the Grounders were coming for us, the guards wouldn't stand a chance. We've all seen them. Besides, Mount Weather should be our priority."

\- "If the Grounders attack us there's no way we'll get to Mount Weather."

Sam looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

\- "So little faith, my friend."

\- "Why don't we ask Clarke what they were talking about?"

\- "Yeah." –I agreed.

I moved towards Clarke and Raven who were now alone, followed by Octavia and Sam.

\- "Bellamy, just who I wanted to talk with." –Clarke greeted me.

\- "What was that about looking for more guards?"

\- "Mount Weather is jamming our signal." –Raven informed us.

\- "You're gonna have to be more specific, cause all I understood from that sentence is that those at Mount Weather are major assholes, and what I want to know is how to get them down." –Sam said moving away from Clarke and I and towards Raven.

\- "Well, you aren't wrong." –Raven smiled at Sam- "By jamming all long-range communication not only they screw our walkies but they also..."

\- "They crashed the Exodus ship." –I ended.

\- "Yeah."

\- "I assume you have a plan."

\- "Yeah, my mom finally agreed to let us go to Mount Weather to find the tower that broadcasts the signal."

\- "So that I can make it go boom."

\- "That's my girl." –Sam said lightly pushing Raven to the side, with a mischievous smile.

\- "What's the plan?" –Octavia was quick to ask.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

After Raven and Clarke had explained the plan to Sam, Bellamy and I, we all geared up and were ready to leave. Abbie came with us, along with a couple guards and major Byrne.

\- "I can't believe they let Finn come."

\- "He's the best tracker we've got." –Bellamy answered me as I saw Sam rolling her eyes- "Don't forget to look up. The Grounders use the trees." –he informed the new additions to our group.

\- "You know? Maybe we should learn to track. We've done it before, how much harder can it get, right?" –Sam talked to me as we slowed down our pace.

\- "Alright." –I said nodding, understanding what we had to do- "Let's do it."

We allowed the rest of the group to move ahead of us as Bellamy joined us.

\- "Time to go." –he spoke.

I saw Sam dueling with herself, probably thinking whether or not to make a sarcastic remark. She ended up choosing not to and nodding to Bellamy, which could only mean this was getting serious. The three of us started to move in a different direction. Clarke had given us a special mission: finding a way in into Mount Weather.

\- "So, according to Clarke, before the bombs there were buildings everywhere here. I'm guessing some of them had access to the bunker."

\- "So basically we are looking for ruins?" –Sam asked- "I feel like that archeologist from those movies who was always in trouble but somehow always managed to find what he was looking for and not die."

\- "Indiana Jones?"

\- "Yeah." –Sam laughed- "I'm not great with names."

\- "Did you actually like those movies?" –Bellamy laughed.

\- "Well excuse me for wanting to be something else rather than a boring Ark teacher, a guard or a cook." –Sam rolled her eyes- "Not that there's anything wrong with those jobs, you know? I just never thought I was made for them."

\- "I can't really see why." –I said pushing her lightly to the side- "It's not like you have trouble following orders or that you like to put your life in danger 24/7 or that you are extremely stubborn and reckless or that..."

\- "I'm not even offended." –Sam smiled- "I know I'm great but we don't have time for all this praising sis, we got a mission."

\- "Alright, sis." –I chuckled empathizing the second word- "Lead the way, Indiana Jones."

\- "Just because I like the movies doesn't mean I like the name, besides we are three so we should be the Jones."

\- "That sounds horrible." –Bellamy argued.

\- "The Blakes." –I exclaimed seeing my chance.

Bellamy looked at me with a confused face whereas Sam had a grin on hers.

\- "It's not as if I weren't at least half a Blake already anyway." –Sam accepted, shrugging her shoulders.

\- "Hey, Blake!" –the guard named Scott appeared behind us.

\- "I guess he caught on with our team name." –Sam whispered smiling as Bellamy and I stopped walking.

\- "The three of you, let's go right now."

\- "In case you've forgotten, we're not under your command." –Bellamy turned around.

\- "Don't make us do this the hard way."

\- "Come on, Scott. Forty-seven of our people are prisoners in that mountain."

\- "That's why we're out here."

\- "Wrong." –Bellamy kept talking with Scott.

Sam took my hand in hers as she looked at our feet and I did the same. Thousands of little insects were running in the same direction. I looked at her and then at Bellamy.

\- "Bell." –I warned him.

\- "What are they doing?" –Scott asked.

\- "They are running away." –Sam was quick to answer.

\- "Acid fog." –Bellamy warned- "We need cover, now!"

I looked at Sam who was following the insects.

\- "Sam!"

\- "They must know of a safe place, right?"

I nodded and we both followed them until we got to a wall of rock which they crossed by going under it. Bellamy yelled for us to come back as I lowered to the ground and started to dig only to find a something that looked like a door.

\- "Yes." –Sam said pleased with my discovery.

\- "What are you both doing? We need to cover..."

\- "It's the ruins and that's the door to our salvation." –Sam pointed out, cutting Bellamy off.

Bellamy yelled for the guards to come help until he and Scott managed to get the door open. Sam and I were the first to enter, followed by Scott and Bellamy, who stood at the door yelling at the other two guards to join us, but only one made it.

**SAM'S POV**

Once we entered the ruins, we turned on our flashlights and we started moving around the place.

\- "Where are we?" –Scott asked.

\- "Looks like a garage." –Bellamy answered.

\- "More like a tomb." –Octavia argued.

\- "You think any of these cars could still work? Cause that'd be hella useful." –I commented approaching one that looked practical for our terrain.

\- "Sam..." –Octavia moved towards me.

\- "What? It's not like trying would harm us."

\- "Look, we are sorry about your man..."–Bellamy spoke with Scott- "...but we need to find an access door to Mount Weather."

\- "Hey, not so fast." –Scott prevented him from moving away.

\- "Sir, that fog will keep us pinned down for another..."

Bellamy stopped talking as Scott took his gun and gave it to him.

\- "We'll split up. Meet me back in 15." –Scott commanded as Bellamy took the gun from him- "Be safe."

Bellamy moved towards Octavia and me. She took her sword and looked at me worried.

\- "I may not have my bow or a gun but I have my knives and..." –I paused reaching my backpack- "...I got this."

I showed them the electric baton I had 'borrowed' from a guard. Bellamy smiled and spoke.

\- "Alright, let's go then."

We walked around for a couple minutes surrounded by complete silence until some cockroaches moved as the light hit them.

\- "How about you two look for our entrance ticket while I check the cars; maybe there's something in them we could use."

\- "We should stick together, we don't know what could be hiding in here."

\- "Apart from disgusting insects, wasted food and cars?" –I wondered- "I highly doubt any Grounder would choose to live down here nor the Mountain Men."

\- "Fine." –Bellamy ended- "But be careful."

\- "I'll scream for you if I'm in danger, don't worry."

I winked at him and started walking through the cars.  _Man, these cars are nasty._ I cleaned the windows from dust to see if there was anything inside.  _Wasted food is not something I really want to smell right now. How about some clothes? Weapons? Batteries? I'm sure those'd be helpful for Raven, anything mechanical really._  Music interrupted my thoughts.  _A music box?_  I assumed it had been Scott and the other guard.  _Really? How old are they? Two?_  I rolled my eyes and kept looking around until a scream from Scott stopped me.  _Well, shit._  I climbed to the roof of one of the cars to check if I could see what was going on.

\- "Bellamy! O!"

\- "Sam!" –I heard the Blake siblings scream- "Are you okay? Where are you?"

\- "I'm fine. I'm over here." –I guided them moving my flashlight as I heard footsteps approaching me- "Can you see what happened? From here everything seems fine but I can't see them."

\- "Hold on." –I heard Bellamy and the footsteps stopped.

\- "Blood."

_Well, guess I was wrong. There's something else in here. Fantastic._

\- "Sam, come to us."

I moved from the car and followed Bellamy's voice until I saw their figures.

\- "You know what is really not helping with the creepiness of the situation?"

\- "The music." –Octavia said, agreeing with me.

\- "Stay sharp you both."

We kept moving until we found a rifle lying on the floor.  _Must be Scott's._  A weird noise could be heard not far away from us.

\- "What's that?" –Octavia asked.

Bellamy took the rifle, that had a light attached to it, and moved it around us until it hit the place where the noise was coming from: Scott was lying on the floor and two big men were kneeled beside him.  _Are they eating him?_

\- "Reapers." –Octavia said as they started running towards us.

Bellamy started shooting and pushing Octavia and me back until both Grounders fell dead on the ground.

\- "Take this." –he handed us the gun.

\- "Octavia, take it." –I ordered.

\- "Sam..."

\- "Just do it."

She looked at me but ended up taking it. I had both my knives in my hands now as we started to move again, finding the other guard dead next to another Reaper. Bellamy got ready to shoot but Octavia stopped him.

\- "Don't. It's Lincoln."

\- "How...?"

I didn't know what to say. I had heard Octavia's story about Lincoln and what Clarke had told us about the Reapers and Mount Weather; the pieces were starting to connect and I wasn't liking the outcome. Octavia looked like a heavy weight had been taken away from her shoulders and, as Lincoln looked at us, she spoke his name. He didn't seem to recognize her, any of us really. He got up and started to move towards us threateningly.

\- "O..." –Bellamy spoke.

\- "Don't kill him."

We moved backward but Lincoln was too fast and took Octavia and pushed her to the ground.

\- "Octavia!" –Bellamy screamed.

\- "Lincoln, I like you but you're being a dick."

I said pushing him away from Octavia and helping her back up. Lincoln started to move towards Bellamy and when he was a few centimeters away from him, a gunshot was heard. I looked at Octavia who had a painful expression on her face as she held the gun. Bellamy took advantage of Lincolns confusion and kicked him in the head with the back of his rifle, leaving him unconscious.

\- "Come on." –Bellamy said taking Octavia by one side as I took her by the other- "We need to get somewhere safe."

\- "There's an unlocked truck where you found me."

Bellamy nodded at my words and there we went. Once we were inside, Octavia started panicking, sat in between Bellamy and me.

\- "He's a Reaper." –she whispered in between short breaths- "How's that even possible."

\- "Mount Weather." –I simply answered.

\- "He just looked right through me." –she mumbled looking at me.

A noise from outside the car startled us. Lincoln was now walking right beside us, looking to the car we were in.

\- "Can he see us?" –Octavia whispered.

\- "I don't know." –Bellamy answered.

\- "God, I hope not." –I added.

I pushed Octavia lightly towards Bellamy, and therefore the other side of the car as I couldn't take my eyes from Lincoln. He was looking at the car, at the window, but he didn't seem to see us. He finally placed his bloody hand on the window and moved away. I had been holding my breath and I gasped for air, relieved. I turned to face Octavia and Bellamy as she panicked again.

\- "Shh... Listen to me." –Bellamy tried to comfort O, taking her hand- "I'll get him back, I promise."

He then looked at me and I nodded.

\- "I got an idea." –I said taking my baton.

Once I had explained the idea and Bellamy had managed to make a coherent plan out of it, we got out of the car. Octavia looked at us.

\- "Are you sure you are up for this?" –I questioned, worried.

\- "I have to do it." –Octavia reassured me.

\- "Alright, draw him in, we'll do the rest."

Octavia moved away from us, gun in one hand and flashlight in the other.  _God, I hope this works out._ Bellamy moved behind a column as I retreated to the wall. Octavia started to call for Lincoln and, as he appeared, she moved towards me. Bellamy moved from behind the column and stroke Lincoln with the gun. As Lincoln turned around to get Bellamy, I moved from beside Octavia and hit Lincoln with the baton in the base of his neck until he collapsed on the ground. Octavia came beside me, panting heavily as so did Bellamy.

\- "Now what?" –she finally asked.

\- "Now we take him home."

\- "I so wish those cars worked." –I started moving away- "We'll need to make a stretcher or something to carry him."

Octavia and Bellamy nodded; she moved towards me and squeezed my shoulder as she moved away with a flashlight. Bellamy stood beside me as we saw her go.

\- "She's strong, she'll be fine, you'll see."

\- "What if we can't bring him back?"

\- "If they can transform them that means there's a process, we just need to reverse it." –I explained my thoughts- "Tragically, I lack medical experience so you will have to talk with Clarke."

\- "Why me?"

\- "Cause she listens to you more than she listens to me, obviously." –I smiled and took the baton- "Now take this, I told you this would come in handy." –I handed it to him- "I'll try to see what I can find, I'm pretty sure I saw something in one of these cars we could use."

Bellamy took the baton and nodded at me. I left in the opposite direction Octavia had; soon enough and between the three of us, we managed to build something similar to a stretcher and we started to move away.

\- "Where to boss?"

\- "To the dropship."


	6. Salvation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy goes to find Clarke to get some help. Once they arrive back at the dropship, things get worse by the minute; they need to figure out a way out of this mess while also dealing with the Grounders threat. But what can they do?

**BELLAMY'S POV**

Once Sam, O and I had made it with Lincoln to the dropship, we chained him inside like the last time he was there, only for different reasons.

\- "And now what?" –Octavia sat on the floor.

\- "Now we get help."

\- "I'll go look for Clarke."

I started moving towards the stairs as Sam squatted in front of Octavia and stroke her cheek. I stared at them as I started to go down the stairs, amazed by the connection they seemed to have. Once only my head was still in the room, I looked at Lincoln; I had made sure he wouldn't be able to get rid of the chains once he woke up but it didn't make me feel any better to leave them there.

\- "We'll be fine. It's not as if we couldn't fight him, you know?" –Sam's voice made me turn my face.

\- "We got this, big brother. Go."

I looked at them one last time and closed the hatch after me, moving as fast as I could to get to camp before things got worse. Once I arrived, Jaha was there, next to Abbie, giving a speech about how we should leave before the Grounders came after us. I saw Clarke ready to go after her mother but I grabbed her arm, stopping her.

\- "Where have you been?" –she asked me, her face full of concern.

\- "In the dropship." –I answered avoiding explanations now- "You need to come with me."

\- "Why? What happened?"

\- "I'll explain on the way." –I rushed her- "Bring a med kit. Meet me at Raven's gate."

**CLARKE'S POV**

Bellamy explained to me what Octavia, Sam and he had been doing after they left on their mission but nothing could have prepared me for the view in front of me once I got to the dropship's upper level; Lincoln had been restrained and was covered in blood, but the worst part was how he was acting: his eyes squinted and red, screaming and pulling from his restrains trying to get to us as if we were his next meal.  _This is insane._

\- "And as you can see, he is awake." –Sam moved to greet me.

\- "I can't believe we're here again." –I spoke unable to tear my eyes away from Lincoln.

\- "Well, to be fair this time you are going to help him."

\- "Sam..."

Bellamy warned her as if she were crossing an invisible line, but she was right; last time we were here all I wanted to do was get answers and, to do so, we hurt him. I raised my hand in front of Bellamy to make him stop as Sam raised her eyebrow at him in annoyance.

\- "Can you help him?" –Octavia asked, almost begged from the other side of the room.

\- "I don't know if I can." –I answered honestly- "I didn't know they were creating the Reapers at Mount Weather."

\- "If they can do that to Lincoln, what are they doing to our friends?" –Bellamy wondered out loud.

Sam sighed loudly and I turned to face her, I knew if she got the chance she would run straight into Mount Weather for Monty and Jasper.

\- "We'll get to them, Sam."

\- "Yeah, I just hope it won't be too late."

\- "It won't."

\- "If it is..." –she faced me with wild eyes- "...I'll kill them all myself."

\- "Sam..." –Octavia rose up and moved towards her.

\- "I know, let's go one step at a time." –she looked softly at Octavia as she spoke- "First we get Lincoln back." –Octavia was about to protest but Sam cut her- "Shh, we are getting him back, you are not losing him again, I promise."

\- "You can't promise that, Sam." –Bellamy stepped towards them.

\- "Well, I just did so we all better get our brains working." –she looked at me- "I believe in you, Clarke."

We were there going over everything for what seemed like hours, soon the sun was down and we needed the flashlights to see. Suddenly Lincoln stopped screaming and started convulsing.

\- "He is convulsing."

\- "What does it mean?" –Octavia eagerly asked.

\- "What happened to his leg?" –I asked as Octavia's flashlight darted over it.

\- "I shot him."

\- "Clarke, he's lost a lot of blood." –Bellamy pointed out.

I looked at him and then at Lincoln. I started approaching him but he moved forward with his mouth open, screaming, so I took a step back. One of their flashlights was now on Lincoln's neck and I thought I saw something.

\- "Can you shine the light on his neck again?" –as they did, I confirmed my suspicion- "Needle marks."

\- "You think he's been drugged?"

\- "Maybe."

Suddenly Lincoln managed to get rid of the chains from his arms and pulled me towards him. Everything happened so fast. Octavia screamed at Lincoln as she moved towards me but he pushed her away, throwing her to the ground; he was trying to bite me when Bellamy stepped in and started hitting him while Sam tried to get rid of Lincoln's grab on my arm; finally, Lincoln let go of me, making Sam and I both fall down by inertia at the same time he took Bellamy and hit him with his head, making him fall back too. As we laid on the ground, Lincoln got rid of the chain around his torso and the other arm, being left only with the ones around his legs. He moved forward trying to catch one of us, throwing himself to the ground and reaching as far as he could. He soon realized he couldn't go much further chained to the floor, so he turned around to break both chains. At that moment, Bellamy took a baton and moved towards Lincoln, on another attempt to control him; however, Lincoln saw him coming and moved towards him, stopping his arm as Bellamy almost reached him with the baton. Lincoln knocked Bellamy down, making him drop the baton and started punching him in the face; I tried to help him but he pushed me away; right then, Octavia got a metallic bar and Sam took the electric baton; each of them approached Lincoln from one side and both of them hit him at the same time. Lincoln convulsed due to the electric shock and fell to the ground due to the bar's impact on his back. Octavia dropped the bar and lied next to Bellamy, checking if he was alright. Sam, however, stood there looking at all of us lying on the ground in different degrees of pain. She took a deep breath, tossed the baton on the floor next to Lincoln and headed out of the dropship.

\- "Sam." –I called after her.

\- "I need fresh air, scream if you need me."

And with that, she left. As I looked over at Lincoln again, I realized we better chain him again before he woke up. This time we chained him to the floor, as hard as we could, with more chains and ropes than the last time.  _If he manages to get out of this, I don't know what we are going to do._  Once he came back to his senses, Octavia tried to give him water, but he was out of it and made her drop it all over his face.

\- "I'll get some more." –she said as Bellamy worriedly looked at her.

\- "O." –Bellamy stop her before she reached the hatch- "Once the drug is out of his system he'll be okay."

\- "You can't protect me from this one, big brother."

\- "O..."

\- "I'll tell Sam to come back in."

With that, Octavia left.

**SAM'S POV**

I left the dropship because I was tired of having to fight and watch the people I liked getting hurt while I felt powerless. I sat in silence at the dropship's entrance and watched the forest at night.

\- "Everything is so quiet and calm, why can't it always be like this?" –I thought out loud.

\- "I wonder that too sometimes."

Octavia's voice surprised me as she came out of the dropship.

\- "You and your impeccable timing." –I chuckled standing up- "You alright?"

\- "I'm coming to get more water for Lincoln."

\- "Want me to go with you?"

\- "No, it's fine." –she said as I raised my eyebrow- "I'll be fine, Sam. Go in before Clarke and Bellamy end up at each other's throats."

\- "Well, now you are just exaggerating. I know they aren't that close but that seems a little over the top." –she raised her eyebrow at me now- "Right?"

\- "I don't know." –she shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

\- "Fine. I'll babysit our leaders." –I said rolling my eyes.

Octavia chuckled and nodded and I entered the dropship, I opened the hatch and soon enough Bellamy and Clarke turned to face me as Lincoln screamed, yet again.

\- "Where's Octavia?" –Bellamy asked impatiently.

\- "Well, hello to you too." –I mocked as I entered the level- "She's getting water, will be back in a minute."

\- "Sorry, I'm..."

\- "It's fine." -Lincoln's screams interrupted me- "Please, tell me you know what to do or I'll knock him out again myself so that I can get some peace and quiet around here."

\- "I don't know." –Clarke paused thinking what to say- "If my mom were here..."

\- "Now, stop it right there, princess." –I moved to face her- "I'm aware you are not an actual doctor but you've kept us alive here all this time so, if someone can save Lincoln that's you. Stop wishing to be more like your mom because right now I need Clarke, not Abbie."

\- "Thanks."

The hatch opened and Octavia came in followed by Nyko.  _Well, this sure got 20 times more interesting right now._  Bellamy immediately took his rifle and pointed it at him.

\- "Bellamy, don't." –Octavia placed herself in front of Nyko- "He's Lincoln's friend and their healer."

Lincoln started seizing again and Clarke moved towards him to see what she could do. Nyko laid eyes on me and I took a deep breath, not knowing if he would attempt something against me due to what happened at the village.

\- "Bellamy." –I spoked still looking at Nyko- "Let him, maybe he can help Lincoln."

Bellamy lowered the rifle and Nyko nodded our way. He lowered himself next to Lincoln taking something from his pocket; he opened it and inside were a bunch of different small bottles with liquids inside of them. He pulled one out as Clarke asked him what it was but he didn't respond; he simply opened it and placed it over Lincoln's mouth.

\- "Yu gonplei ste odon."

He said ready to let a drop of the liquid fall into Lincoln's mouth.

\- "Wait." –Clarke screamed and moved her hand just in time to catch the drop- "That's what they say before death." –she looked at Octavia- "He's not trying to heal him, he's trying to kill him."

\- "Nyko." –Octavia confronted him- "Is it true?"

\- "Yes." –he answered- "Death is the only way."

\- "Hold on. There could be a way to bring him back."

\- "None that I've ever seen."

\- "Alright, let's think for a second." –I spoke- "Doesn't it seem possible to you that there's a way out of this..." –I pointed at Lincoln- "... just like there's a way to get like that? A reverse process should work, right?" –I looked at Clarke.

\- "Yeah, but we..."

\- "We have to go. The camp's leaving." –Finn appeared through the hatch.

\- "You." –Nyko said standing up –"Fraga! Fraga!"

Nyko threw himself at Finn, screaming in his language. Bellamy tried to get them to separate but Nyko was too strong, he was now chocking Finn.

\- "You slaughtered my people. Elders, children, innocents."

\- "Nyko, you are killing him." –Octavia tried to intermediate.

\- "Get out of the way."

\- "Bellamy no." –I placed myself in front of his now raised rifle.

\- "Move now." –he yelled.

\- "You are not killing him." –Octavia was now in front of me.

I looked at Clarke who seemed to be looking for something.  _The baton._

\- "On your left, Clarke." –I told her pointing to the ground.

She took it and moved towards Nyko, who immediately fell to the ground screaming in pain. I looked at Nyko and then at Octavia, whose eyes were about to pop from her face.

\- "Lincoln." –she moved towards him- "He's not breathing."

\- "His heart stopped, move." –Clarke said as she started CPR on Lincoln.

Octavia moved to the side and I stood right behind here, ready to hold her if this went south. Luckily, after a couple seconds, Lincoln started breathing again and we all let out our own held breaths.

\- "He was dead." –Nyko spoke- "How did you do that?"

\- "You've tried bringing Reapers back before and they died like this?" –Clarke asked him.

Nyko nodded, still unable to believe what was happening.  _Well, seems we found a solution. About damn time._

\- "What is it?" –Bellamy asked Clarke as she had that look in her face.

**CLARKE'S POV**

\- "I know how to stop the attack."

\- "Then let's get moving people, come on." –Sam said rushing all of us.

\- "Wait, someone has to stay here with Lincoln while I go tell my mom and Nyko..." –I faced him- "...I need to speak with your commander."

Nyko nodded and left us as I turned to face Sam, knowing what I had to do next.

\- "I'll go talk with the Commander..."

\- "You can't go alone, who knows...." –Finn interrupted me.

\- "Well, you can't go with her, Finn." –Sam interrupted him- "You saw how Nyko reacted. If they know who you are, they'll kill you in a second."

\- "You'll come with me, Sam."

\- "Well, I was not planning to serve as a babysitter anyway so fine with me." –Sam agreed clapping her hands together.

\- "But she was there too." –Bellamy argued- "They'll kill you." –he faced her.

\- "You wanna go instead?" –Sam scoffed- "With your rifle and your not-at-all-intimidating manners?" –she softened her expression and smiled at him- "No offense, but you'd only make things worse."

\- "Nyko didn't try to kill Sam." –Octavia told him- "She'll be fine, you know it."

\- "Sam was there when I spoke with Anya. She has to be there when I talk with the Commander too."

\- "I didn't know I was getting a promotion from 'annoying wreck' to 'bodyguard', now this is what I'm talking about." –Sam joked looking at me.

\- "So, it's settled, Sam and I will go to talk with the Commander while you keep an eye on Lincoln." –I stated looking at Bellamy and Octavia- "Finn, you'll be safer at camp so you are coming back with us."

\- "We don't have time to waste, let's go." –Finn said moving towards the hatch as I followed him.

\- "Sam?" –I asked seeing she wasn't following.

\- "I'll catch up in a second."

I nodded knowing she would keep her word and left.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

Sam turned to face Octavia before speaking again.

\- "I told you it was going to be just fine, see?" –she smiled at Octavia.

\- "Yeah..." –Octavia looked at Lincoln and then at her- "Be safe."

\- "I always am."

\- "Oh, sure. But this time for real, alright?"

\- "I'll try my best."

Octavia hugged Sam and then went back to sit next to Lincoln. I moved beside Sam and sighed.

\- "Lighten up, Blake. You are ruining the mood."

\- "Will you think with your head when you are in front of the Commander?"

She turned to face me with her eyebrow raised and her arms crossed over her chest.

\- "I'll do what's best to keep our people alive. Have a little faith, alright?"

\- "You stay alive."

\- "I'll try my best."

\- "Sam, this is serious. You were in that village when Finn snapped, they could kill you if they wanted."

\- "I know you too well to know what you are actually thinking, Bell. I know you don't want me to go not because I was at the village but because it's dangerous, but you know me too well to know you can't stop me, so please, just trust me to do the best I can for everyone."

\- "That's what worries me."

\- "Why?"

\- "Because I know you'll truly do the best for our people, even if that means giving your life."

I looked into her eyes, hoping she would deny it, but knowing too well she wouldn't, so I just held her in my arms. She moved her arms and wrapped them around me and we stayed like that until she broke away from me.

\- "I have to go." –she said cupping my face with her hands- "Take care of O for me."

\- "Come back to me, Sam."

She simply kissed my cheek and nodded before turning away and disappearing through the hatch.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

I listened to Sam and Bell's conversation before she left.  _Will they just kiss already?_

\- "You both need to start talking about what's going on between you too." –I said making Bellamy turn around to face me- "Look at me, Bell. If I had lost Lincoln without telling him how I felt, I would have never forgiven myself."

\- "It's not the same, O."

\- "Oh, it is. Plain and simple: you love her, she loves you, what else is there?"

\- "I know that."

\- "Then?" –I raised from the ground and walked towards him- "What's your issue?"

\- "My issue is her." –he spoke harshly as I took a step back in surprise- "I can't tell her how I feel, what if I ruin what we have or what if she doesn't feel the same? What if me saying how I feel makes her put her life on the line even more and dies? What would I do without her, O? I can't."

\- "Hold on a second..." –I approached him again trying to comprehend why he was such a mess- "...did you just say 'what if she doesn't feel the same'? Are you seriously that oblivious? She loves you!"

\- "I know she loves me, same way she loves you."

\- "You're unbelievable." –I sighed- "I don't get it."

\- "She loves me, but I am in love with her. There's a difference."

\- "I see nothing of what I say will make you see the reality in front of you. Just talk to her, alright?" –and I added before sitting back down next to Lincoln- "And stop boycotting your own happiness, put yourself first for once in your life."

I turned my attention to Lincoln.  _Maybe I was a little harsh but if anyone down here deserves to be happy those are my best friend and my brother; Sam and Bell._


	7. The things we do.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Sam makes it back to camp, and with a little convincing, she and Clarke manage to talk with the Commander. Things prove trickier than expected when things get complicated back in the dropship. Getting a truce with the Grounders could cost our delinquents more than what they can handle.

**SAMS' POV**

Once I got back to camp it was pitch black except for the torches of the Grounders who were now surrounding us.  _Well, I guess it's too late to run away now. I hope Clarke convinced her mom._  I got to the doors and guards started shouting at me, until they realized I wasn't a Grounder and they let me in, as I rolled my eyes. I looked for Clarke and Finn cause I knew they'd be together. Finally, a guard was nice enough to let me know they were talking with Abbie and Jaha inside. _Jaha, the last person I ever want to see, great._  Once I found them I waited outside for a second to understand what I would have to be dealing with.

\- "Let me talk to the Commander. She was Anya's second, maybe she'll listen." –I heard Clarke explain.

\- "We don't even know if the Commander is here." –Jaha questioned.

_Yeah, cause we would come here with an idea that isn't really an idea, alright Jaha, thanks for your input._

\- "Yes, we do, Nyko told us." –Finn backed Clarke up- "You have to at least let her try."

\- "Abby, we're wasting time. Give me the authority, now."

 _Now that's enough._  I stormed into the room to face them all.

\- "Jaha, always a pleasure." –I spoke cynically.

\- "Sam, thank God you're back." –Clarke greeted me.

\- "I don't mean to be pushy, but we should get going."

\- "We?" –Abbie asked.

\- "You truly didn't think Clarke was going alone, right? I'm going with her, and we are leaving now. We don't have time to lose."

\- "Hold on a second. Clarke told me Lincoln is going through withdrawal."

\- "I'm no expert on the medical field but I trust Clarke knows what's up."

\- "We don't know what he's withdrawing from; the detox alone could kill him."

\- "The more reason to do this fast, get inside Mount Weather and figure what they are using."

\- "Not saving Lincoln is not an option, mom."

\- "Wait, we're risking everything on a bluff?" –Jaha questioned, again- "Abbie, we have an out, we have a way to save the lives of our people."

\- "Always so ready to run away from trouble, right?" –I spat- "Do you really think you have a way out? They are already here and they won't leave until we are all dead. Leaving was never an option to begin with because my people are inside Mount Weather."

\- "We would come back for them!" –Jaha yelled standing up from his chair.

\- "I highly doubt you ever had the intention to save them or any of us for that matter. You send us all here to die and now you are just trying to save yourself by leaving them behind."

\- "Abbie, this has gone on long enough." –Jaha ignored me- "If you do not give the order to begin the exodus, you are killing us all."

\- "I'm sorry." –Abbie spoke and I feared the worst- "But I can't give that order."

I looked at Abbie and nodded, then turned towards Clarke and Finn, ready to leave.

\- "Abbie, give the order." –Jaha threatened.

\- "No." –Abbie stood her ground.

\- "I am the elected chancellor of the Ark, and I am not going to let you risk the lives of my people, understand? I am going to ask you once again, give the order to begin the exodus."

\- "No. Are you through yet?"

Jaha looked at Clarke, Finn and I before turning to the two guards behind us.

\- "Sergeant Miller, Major Byrne. I am relieving Dr. Griffin of her command." –he spoke and I scoffed rolling my eyes- "Place these four into custody but make sure they are ready to leave with the rest of us within the hour."

None of them moved.

\- "Right now!" –Jaha screamed losing his temper- "Or the blood of everyone in this camp will be on your hands too."

\- "Major Byrne, Sergeant Miller..." –Abbie finally spoke- "... put Chancellor Jaha in the stockade."

\- "Yes, ma'am." –Byrne answered Abbie.

Both guards took Jaha each by one arm but he got rid of them and turned to face Abbie.

\- "Everything we did to survive... you're just throwing it all away. Why?"

\- "Because I have faith in my daughter."

I looked at Clarke who was looking at Abbie with a soft gaze, expressing surprise, concern, and admiration all at the same time.

\- "Thank you." –Clarke spoke as Jaha left.

\- "I'll send the guard with you."

\- "No, they'll see it as a threat. I have to do this on my own." –she looked at me- "And Sam will be with me." –then she added- "Finn will take you to Lincoln."

\- "If you're wrong all of us are gonna die."

\- "I'll wait for you at the entrance, Clarke."

\- "Alright."

\- "Thank you, Samantha."

\- "No problem Chancellor Abbie." –I said smiling at her before bowing a bit and leaving.

Once I was out of the ship, I went straight to find Raven. Luckily, she was in the middle of the camp, probably looking around for something to mess up with.

\- "Raven."

\- "Oh, God, Sam!" –she greeted me- "I was so worried about you. When Clarke came back and you were not with her and she told me about your mission with Bellamy and Octavia and the acid fog..."

\- "I'm fine. A little hard to kill, remember?"

\- "Oh, yeah, sure thing."

\- "Sam!" –Clarke soon came to us- "Hi, Raven."

\- "What are you both up to now?"

\- "We are going to talk with the Commander, Clarke found a way out of this mess."

\- "Both of you? Alone?"

\- "Yeah. Also unarmed, Sam. We don't want to be seen as a threat."

\- "Ugh, fine." –I reluctantly agreed taking my knives from their hiding places- "Here, Raven, for you."

\- "I'll keep them safe until you're back because you both are coming back."

\- "We will." –Clarke reassured her- "The sunrise, it's time to go."

I nodded at her and hugged Raven goodbye. Once we got to the door, a couple Grounders were waiting for us.  _I find amusing how it is us who need not to look like a threat and can never have weapons but they sure come in all geared up._ Clarke stepped before me and I followed after her.

**CLARKE'S POV**

Two Grounders received Sam and I before arriving at their camp. Sam was looking around not in fear but amazed.

\- "Imagine how hard this people train, they look awesome, don't you think? Like, imagine being that strong, wao."

\- "Sam, focus, we have a mission."

\- "I'm sure you're gonna be doing all the talking and I should stay quiet and make no sarcastic remarks, sharp comments nor threat anyone." –she enumerated with her fingers- "I'll try my best."

\- "Thank you. I'm glad you came."

\- "I mean, someone has to keep an eye on our princess, right?"

Before I could speak any further with Sam, we arrived in front of the biggest tent there and another tall and strong Grounder came to us.

\- "If any of you so much as look at her the wrong way, I will slit your throat."

He turned around as Sam looked at me; I knew she was biting her tongue which I appreciated endlessly. I entered the tent followed by Sam and the Grounder, who held the tapestry covering the entrance for us to come in.

\- "Well, thank you." –Sam said as I looked at her- "I was being polite, relax."

Sat on a chair that looked more like a throne was a girl, not much older than us, playing with a knife.

\- "You're the ones who burned 300 of my warriors alive."

\- "You're the one who sent them there to kill us."

\- "Not to be rude or anything but I'm the one who your very massive and brute friend Brutus, a very fitting name if you don't mind me saying so, was taking here for you to get answers." –Sam pointed out as I shoot her a deathly look which she ignored.

\- "You must be Samantha then." –the Commander spoke- "Anya told me about you after your meeting at the bridge."

\- "Yeah, nice meeting you..."

\- "Lexa."

\- "Lexa, right. But we're not here to make friends, not right now at least."

\- "I understand." –she looked at me- "Do you have an answer for me, Clarke of the Sky People?"

\- "I've come to make you an offer."

\- "This is not a negotiation."

A woman next to her spoke in the language while looking at us as if she were ready to kill us, but the Commander raised her hand and she stopped talking.

\- "I can help you beat the Mountain Men."

\- "Go on."

\- "Hundreds of your people are trapped inside Mount Weather, kept in cages. Their blood is used as medicine."

\- "How do you know this?"

\- "Because I saw them. My people are prisoners there too; I was one of them."

\- "Lies." –the woman beside her spoke again- "No one escapes the mountain."

\- "I did. With Anya. We fought our way out together."

\- "Another lie. Anya died in the fire, you killed her."

\- "Won't you listen a second?" –Sam spoke.

I looked at her and shook my head, letting her know there was no need to fight. She rolled her eyes at me and crossed her arms over her chest as I took a piece I had cut from Anya's braided her from my pocket and handed it to Lexa.

\- "She told me you were her second, I'm sure she'd want you to have this."

\- "We don't know it's hers."

\- "Anya was my mentor before I was called to lead my people." –Lexa said after saying something to the woman in their language- "Did she die well?"

\- "Yes, by my side. Trying to get a message to you."

\- "What message?"

\- "The only way to save both out people is to join together."

\- "Those who are about to die will say anything." –the woman spoke again, poison in her words.

\- "I'm still waiting for an offer, Clarke."

\- "The Mountain Men are turning your people into Reapers. I can turn them back."

\- "Impossible." –the woman said before speaking in their tongue again to the Commander.

\- "I've done it with Lincoln." –I interrupted her.

\- "That traitor is the reason my village was slaughtered by your people."

She moved towards me, knife on her hand, threateningly but before I could react, Sam placed herself in front of me, between her and I. Lexa shouted at her and the woman moved back as she rose from her seat. The Commander walked towards us and looked at Sam who moved beside me again, leaving me facing her as she spoke.

\- "You say you can turn the Reapers back into men?"

\- "Yes."

\- "Then prove it. Show me Lincoln."

We walked towards the dropship, Sam leading the way as I walked closely behind her, followed by Lexa and a couple of her guards. Sam started walking slower until I caught up with her.

\- "You know, I was thinking, maybe the dropship is not the best place to bring them, after all, there is all that ash from the fire and bones and, well, you know."

\- "It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

\- "I'm just saying maybe we should get in as fast as possible so that they don't have time to give it a second thought."

I nodded and soon enough we were there. Sam walked straight to the door as I followed but stopped to look behind me to the Grounders.

\- "This way." –I spoked signaling where Sam had just disappeared through.

When I got into the second level of the hatch, I hear sobbing. Octavia was sat beside Lincoln who wasn't moving. Sam and Bellamy were each at one of her sides comforting her as Finn and Bellamy turned to face me from the other side of the room. My mom rose from beside Lincoln and I understood what had happened: Lincoln was dead. After me, the Grounders came in and looked around. I looked at my mom, at Bellamy and Sam; Bellamy slowly started moving his hand to pick his rifle next to him as Sam rose up covering Octavia. The Commander nodded her head at the woman and she spoke.

\- "Kill them all."

Each Grounder took out their blades and pointed them at us as Bellamy pointed his rifle at them and my mom took the shock baton on her hand. Sam had no weapons but she stood still in between Octavia and the Grounders, even when one of them placed their blade to her neck.

\- "Please, you don't have to do this." –I spoked looking Lexa.

\- "You lied and you are out of time."

As I ran out of ideas, my mom took the baton and hit Lincoln's chest with it.

\- "Hit him again."

She did as I asked and suddenly Lincoln gasped for air. The Grounders lowered her weapons as Octavia started caressing Lincoln's face.

\- "Lincoln." –she spoke as his eyes landed on her.

\- "Octavia."

I looked around at everyone, the majority having their eyes on Lincoln and Octavia. Sam was looking at me and nodded as my eyes locked with hers. I looked at Lexa and I nodded at her as she put her sword away. I breathed in relief.

After that, the Grounders and I went back to Lexa's tent so that we could discuss the details of our truce. This time Sam chose to stay with Octavia and I didn't oppose, although I saw the Commander looking at her with particular interest. Once we were back at her tent, her guards left us in it alone.

\- "I must say, the recovery of Lincoln was impressive." –she spoke– "No one's ever survived such a fate before."

\- "It's not complicated really: we just have to keep them alive long enough for the drug to leave their system, I know we can do the same for others."

\- "You may have your truce."

\- "Thank you."

\- "I just need something in return."

\- "Tell me."

\- "I want Samantha."

\- "For what?"

\- "I wish to speak with her, in private."

\- "I'll see what I can do, but ultimately the choice is hers."

\- "Good." –she agreed with a smile- "Deliver me the one you call Finn; our truce begins with his death."

After the conversation with the Commander, two of her guards accompanied me back to the camp.

\- "Hold your fire. She's back."

I heard Bellamy saying from the inside of the gate as they started to open it for me to enter. Once I was in, Finn came to me.

\- "Are you okay?"

\- "Shut the door!" –I commanded- "You can't be out here."

I took him by the arm and pushed him towards the middle the camp where my mom came to meet us.

\- "What did she say?" –she asked as people crowded around us- "Is there a chance for a truce?"

Raven appeared behind Finn followed by Sam.

\- "Yes."

\- "What's wrong?" –Finn asked me.

\- "What does she want, Clarke?" –Sam moved beside me.

\- "She wants both of you." –I answered, terrified on the inside.

\- "For what?" –Bellamy was now next to Sam.

\- "If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn and Sam."

\- "What the hell are you talking about?" –Raven asked me.

\- "That's their offer."

\- "That's not an offer." –she answered.

\- "It's a punishment." –Finn spoke.

\- "For what happened at the village." –Sam ended.

\- "That's insane." –Bellamy stated.

\- "Blood for blood, that's what they want." –Finn reminded us of their words- "But why would they want you too?" –he turned to face Sam.

\- "I was there too, remember? The more of us they get down now, the fewer worries for them later; makes sense."

\- "And Murphy?" –Finn asked and Sam shrugged her shoulders.

\- "She wants to talk with you first Sam."

\- "Well, why didn't you begin with that?" –Sam faced me.

\- "If we refuse..." –my mom wondered.

\- "I say give them to them." –someone shouted from the crowd.

\- "They attack." –I answered my mom, ignoring the people around us.

\- "Give him up!"

\- "And the girl too."

\- "Yeah, get rid of them."

It all escalated quickly.

\- "Easy people." –Byrne tried to tame the crowd.

\- "Give him to the Grounders." –a man moved next to us.

\- "Back off!" –Raven pushed him.

\- "Raven, Raven!" –I screamed for her- "Listen to me, nothing is gonna happen to Finn, I promise, okay?"

Everyone around us got closer, starting small fights in between those in favor and those opposing to the terms for the truce.

\- "I'm not dying because of him." –another man came straight towards us- "Spacewalker burned three months of oxygen from the Ark. He should have been floated a long time ago."

\- "Throw him out."

Raven punched the guy on the face and everything got wild in a couple seconds. She also punched Byrne which got get locked up. Suddenly, two gunshots were heard, making everyone stop and turn around to see Sam holding a gun in her hands.

\- "Alright, that's enough." –she screamed- "Three months of oxygen would have done you no good, so suck it up and move on. This is not the Ark and all of you need to understand that; we don't float people just because we don't know how to deal with our fucking problems."

Sam was mad and she had gotten everyone's attention by now.

\- "I'm going to tell you what we are going to do. First, you will all mind your business and leave Finn alone; you don't know shit about what all of us, the 100 kids you sent down here to die, had to do to survive. Second of all, if I see any of you so much as to threat Finn or anyone defending him, I will kill you. And finally, ..." –she stated handing back the gun to Bellamy who was looking startled at her- "...I'm leaving to talk with the Commander right now so no one do any dumb shit while I'm gone. Now everyone, back to your places."

The crowd remained silent, looking at each other.

\- "I said leave." –Sam ordered with a deadly look on her eyes, making everyone start moving in fear as she turned to face us- "Now, Finn get inside the ship and don't come out; Clarke, Bellamy think of something while I'm gone and keep Finn alive; Abbie please take care of Raven, I'm sure her knuckles felt that punch." –she smiled.

\- "Wait." –I spoke- "Sam..."

\- "You said she asked for me, so I'm going to see her. Besides, if she wanted to kill me straight away, she would have told you. No offense but she had no problems telling you they want Finn dead."

\- "Sam." –Finn spoke- "I should go with you, they want me."

\- "That's exactly why you are staying in here."

\- "I don't wanna hide."

\- "You're not hiding, you're are staying alive."

\- "Samantha this is dangerous. You can't go alone."

\- "With all due respect Chancellor, I haven't taken orders from anyone since I landed here and I'm not about to start now. You've got Clarke back, so take care of her and boss her around." –she smiled.

Sam looked at us one more time and I nodded at her.

\- "Sam, please, don't do this." –Bellamy faced her.

\- "Walk me to the gate."

**BELLAMY'S POV**

I complied and walked with Sam to the gate.

\- "I know you are scared but this is what I have to do so please don't make leaving you any harder than it already is; just think of something and take care of these little kids while I'm out." –she said stroking my cheek as we stopped, waiting for the door to open.

\- "I hate this, Sam, I hate how I'm always on the edge of losing you."

\- "I will come back, Bell. She doesn't want to kill me."

\- "But what if they want, the Grounders, and she can't control them? What if she chooses to take you instead of Finn?"

\- "Bellamy, listen to me. Whatever happens, I'll always be with you. I like to think I've left some type of imprint on everyone in here so that way a little bit of me lives in every one of you."

\- "But I want you, Sam."

\- "Bellamy, I love you but this is what I have to do for us, for our people."

I looked at her, knowing that she was right, as she always was when it came to hard decisions like this one. I looked outside the gate, at the two Grounders waiting just outside and then back at her, into her eyes, to her lips, and to her eyes again. She closed the space between us and held me close. She kissed my neck and whispered into my ear.

\- "I'm not letting you kiss me goodbye because this is not goodbye."

I hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek, letting go of her.

\- "Tell O I love her and check on her and Lincoln for me, alright?" –I nodded- "Oh, also, don't kill Murphy, he is really trying this time, keep an eye on him for me."

\- "Fine." –I smiled- "But how am I supposed to tell him I let you go?"

\- "You're a clever guy, you'll figure it out. Besides, Murphy knows me, he won't be surprised."

\- "I hope so." –I chuckled- "But you have to come back soon or he will most probably be the one killing me."

\- "I think he likes you a little more now than when we landed, I'm sure he won't hurt you too much."

She winked at me and got out of the camp. I watched her walk next to one of the Grounders as they looked down at her.

\- "I'm Samantha. I believe the Commander asked for me."

The Grounders looked at each other and spoke a few words in their language. After that, one of them offered Sam a hand and she took it, not a trace of hesitation in her actions. The Grounder pulled her up on the horse and they left, leaving the other Grounder just outside our door as it closed.  _She'll be alright Bellamy, she'll come back, she always does. She always keeps her promises._ Then something clicked in my mind. She didn't promise.  _She isn't sure she'll come back. Dammit, Blake._


	8. I tried.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As everyone discovers Sam’s plans, she talks with the Commander; but things won’t go quite as Sam had expected.

**MURPHY'S POV**

So apparently Sam had left to talk with the Commander and I only got to know this because Bellamy came to talk with me, probably on Sam's petition and he explained to me what had happened while I was inside the ship actually looking for Sam and came out later after I saw Raven being taken to a cell. As I was talking with Bellamy, debating whether or not I should kick his ass for letting her go, Byrne came to me and handed me a gun. Bellamy left to speak with Clarke about their next move as I looked for Finn.

\- "If Byrne gave me a gun it must mean we are really screwed, huh?" –I sat down next to Finn once I finally found him but he remained silent- "Look, we kicked their asses last time, we'll do it again."

\- "A lot of people died last time." –he spoke- "Sam almost died and she is out again alone trying to solve the mess I made."

\- "Hey." –Bellamy interrupted us- "We're reinforcing our defenses. Doubles on the perimeter. The only one getting past that wire is Sam."

\- "I'll see where they're thin." –Finn offered.

\- "No, you should head inside. B Corridor would be easier to defend if it comes to that."

\- "I'm not gonna hide while Sam is out there risking her life for the mistakes I made."

\- "Right now, we have to think about keeping you safe." -Clarke spoke next to Bellamy- "I'm going to talk with Lincoln."

I noticed how Clarke completely avoided Sam's current situation and I looked at Bellamy, hoping he would have too but he didn't, or he seemed not to.

\- "Come on." –Bellamy looked at Finn waiting for him to move- "Finn."

Finn finally followed Bellamy and I stood up as Clarke moved away.

\- "Hey." –I spoke- "Any orders for me, princess?"

\- "Stay away from me."

\- "I was just trying to be helpful."

\- "You were with him at the village."

\- "I tried to stop him."

\- "Not hard enough." –she said and turned around to leave.

\- "Is that why you let Sam go so easily? Because you blame us for what Finn did?" –I wandered, making her stop on her feet- "You wanna start blaming people, Clarke? He was out there looking for you. Sam and I just tried to help."

**CLARKE'S POV**

_Could Murphy be right? It's true that I didn't oppose to Sam leaving, but I thought I acted like that because it's what needed to be done; could it also be because deep down I blame her as much as I blame Murphy?_  I shook my head and continued walking towards the medical center where Lincoln was. Once I got in, Octavia and my mom were with Lincoln, who was lying down and still tied up.

\- "He's not a Reaper anymore, he doesn't need to be restrained." –I explained and questioned at the same time.

\- "Yes, I do." –Lincoln argued.

\- "Just tell us, is there a way to make peace?" –my mom asked.

\- "Did she leave riders behind?"

\- "Two just outside the gate. One took Sam and the other is still there."

\- "Each rider was waiting for one of them, the one outside is waiting for Finn." –Lincoln explained- "You don't have much time to decide."

\- "She can't expect us to hand over one of our own people, would she do that?" –Octavia asked him.

\- "She wouldn't let her people die to protect a murderer." –Lincoln frivolously answered- "If you don't do this, she will kill everyone in this camp."

\- "There has to be something else that we can offer." –my mom argued back.

\- "Finn took 18 lives. The Commander is offering to take just one in return, take the deal." –Lincoln advised us.

\- "How can you say that?" –I snapped- "Finn was the first person to come to you to offer peace. He's your friend."

\- "He massacred my village. Some of the dead were my friends too."

\- "But that wasn't Finn." –I pleaded- "You know that's not who he is."

\- "It is now." –Lincoln answered- "We've all got a monster inside of us, Clarke. We're responsible for what it does when we let it out."

\- "Samantha already went to talk with her. Do you think she'll kill her too?" –my mom questioned.

\- "The Commander won't kill her; I don't know what her plans for Sam are but, if she wanted her dead, she wouldn't stand a chance and they both know it."

\- "She is good a fighter, you trained us Lincoln!" –Octavia almost shouted- "She is good with the knives, if she gets close enough..."

\- "She went unarmed." –I spoke as the realization hit me.

\- "What?" –Octavia screamed at me.

\- "She gave her knives to Raven the first time we went to see the Commander. She never got them back."

\- "Are you kidding me?"

\- "She didn't ask for them, did she?" –Lincoln spoke.

\- "No." –I answered- "Maybe she forgot..."

\- "I know Sam would never go anywhere without her weapons. If she left without them, she knows it."

\- "Why would she do that?"

\- "Because she is willing to give one life in exchange for the lives of her people."

\- "You said she wouldn't kill her." –my mom questioned.

\- "She won't unless Sam gives her an option." –I spoke understanding now what Sam was doing- "She went not because the Commander asked for her but because she is trying to keep Finn alive."

\- "Why would she do that?"

\- "Because she blames herself for what Finn did. Because she thinks that's her job."

\- "And you knew this and you let her go just like that?" –Octavia confronted me- "Does Bellamy know any of this? And Murphy? What about..."

\- "Octavia, it's not your choice to make. It's Sam's." –Lincoln interrupted her.

\- "How can you say that? Sam is like my sister, she risked her life for me multiple times, you wouldn't have met me if it weren't for her!" –Octavia was screaming now, completely infuriated- "She's your friend, you trained us, you liked her, you trusted her. How can you say all this without showing any emotions towards her?" –she had tears in her eyes now- "I can't believe I'm going to lose her."

\- "What will they do to them?" –my mom asked, not wanting to pronounce their names as none of us was ready to lose neither of them.

\- "Fire." –Lincoln answered- "Finn killed the innocent so it starts with fire."

\- "Starts?" –I asked, almost a whisper.

\- "They'll take their hands, tongue, eyes. And anyone who grieves will have a turn with a knife. At sunrise, the Commander will handle it with her sword but I've never known anyone to survive until the sword. Whoever of them it comes to, they will suffer the pain of 18 deaths. Then we can have peace."

\- "Would you let Sam face all that and be able to leave with Finn every day after that?" –Octavia asked him.

\- "I trust the Commander will do what's best for all of us. Although I'd rather Sam to stay alive."

\- "I need to talk with Bellamy." –Octavia rose from her knees and moved towards the door.

\- "Wait, no." –I stopped her.

\- "Why? Because now that you know Finn is safe because Sam is giving her life for him, even if he doesn't deserve it, you are afraid we will come after you? After Finn? Or go after Sam? Do you honestly think Bellamy and even Murphy will go on with their lives after this without doing anything?"

\- "Octavia." –Lincoln spoke.

\- "No. My brother deserves to know. Hell, Murphy and Raven deserve to know too what the fate of their friend has come to."

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

_Once she is back I'm going to kill her myself._  I left the room with some peace of mind, knowing Lincoln was gonna be fine. I knew Raven was locked up so I decided to look for Bellamy and Murphy first.

\- "Murphy!" –I yelled as soon as I saw him.

\- "Well now, this is a surprise."

\- "I need to talk with you about Sam." -he raised a questioning eyebrow and his stance immediately changed- "Something's wrong."

\- "I knew it the moment I realized Clarke didn't oppose to her leaving. She is trying to save Finn, isn't she?"

\- "How do you...? Never mind, we need to find Bellamy."

\- "I know where he is, come with me."

I followed Murphy to Bellamy's spot and, as soon as he saw us together, his eyebrows furrowed.

\- "What happened now?"

\- "It's Sam." –Murphy spoke looking at me.

\- "She went to see the Commander to try to exchange herself for Finn."

Bellamy's face discomposed as soon as my words reached his ears. He hit the wall next to us with all his strength until his hand bled and Murphy moved him back now sure he wouldn't hurt him.

\- "Why can't she pause to think the consequences her actions have on all of us." –he whispered- "I should have stopped her; I let her go."

\- "Bellamy, you know Sam even better than Octavia and I do. You know very well she would have gone one way or another."

\- "We have to get her back." –Bellamy stated looking outside the camp.

\- "We will." –I tried to sound as confident as possible.

\- "Sam is the only person in here that actually likes me, you don't think I'll let her go forever just like that, right?" -Murphy gave us half a smile.

\- "We need a plan."

**SAM'S POV**

The Grounder was nice enough to take me on his horse back to the Commander's tent, which I appreciated. Once he got there, he helped me down.

\- "Thank you."

He simply nodded and left. The woman that had been with Lexa the first time I saw her came to me.

\- "Samantha." –she greeted me.

\- "Hello again..."

\- "Indra."

\- "It's nice to finally put a name to your face, Indra."

\- "The Commander is waiting for you." –she signaled the tent.

\- "Thank you."

I nodded and moved towards the tent. As I entered I saw Lexa looking over a map with figures over it to make it three-dimensional.  _Cool._

\- "Samantha." –she spoke as she saw me coming in- "I'm glad you could make it."

\- "You know I would have come even if you hadn't asked for me."

\- "Yes. I'm familiar with your ways; Anya spoke to me about you and I've heard things."

\- "I'm not sure that's a good thing."

\- "She thought you were someone to keep an eye on."

\- "She considered me a threat?"

\- "A threat if on the opposite side."

\- "You know I come from the sky, right? That basically places me the farthest away from you as I could get."

\- "Why do you think I asked for you Samantha kom Skykru?"

\- "I don't know." –I confessed- "I know if you wanted to kill me you would have told Clarke, same way you told her you want Finn. So I'm quite..." –I paused trying to think of the right word to use.

\- "Eager?"

\- "Yeah. I'm eager to know what I could possibly have that you could want or need."

\- "I know from what I've been told and what I've seen that you are a fighter; strong-minded and strong-willed, ready to do what's best for her people."

\- "Too many compliments from someone who's getting ready to kill us all." –I pointed at her map.

\- "You think they won't hand in the one you call Finn?"

\- "I told them not to. And even if I hadn't Clarke would never do that."

\- "And why is that?"

\- "Because they are in love. Although I'm sure you've figured that by now."

\- "I had my suspicions."

\- "Well, there you have it then."

\- "What do you think I should do then?"

\- "I have an offer to make you."

\- "Go on."

\- "Same offer I made Anya that day on the bridge."

\- "You would give your life for a murderer? I thought you were better than that."

\- "I wouldn't be giving it just for him, I give you my life in exchange for my people's. There's people inside that camp that I love, they've become my family when the people in charge on the Ark took mine away from me. I'll be honest with you, I couldn't care less if you killed all the guards on that camp, the leaders or anyone who hurt me or the ones I love for that matter, but I know that's not the right thing to do." –I confessed- "I also have people I consider family inside Mount Weather and I know the only way to save them all is for your people and mine to come together; that won't happen unless you have your blood. So, I offer mine in exchange for the life of my people on the camp and the people inside Mount Weather."

\- "You're an honorable warrior Samantha kom Skaikru."

\- "I hope that's a good thing."

\- "It is."

\- "Then?"

\- "Do you know what the punishment for the killing of an innocent is?"

\- "No, but I'm sure you're gonna explain it to me."

\- "First, fire; then we cut the hands, tongue, and eyes; after that, each person grieving will cut you with a knife. If you're alive by sunrise, I'll end your suffering with my sword, but no one has ever survived that long."

\- "I wonder why." –I spoke sarcastically- "The offer is still on the table, what do you say?"

\- "I can't take you offer, Samantha."

\- "Why not?"

\- "Because spilling the blood of an innocent is not what I or my people want."

\- "Your people don't know who Finn is, tell them it's me."

\- "You may not be aware of this Samantha, but some of my people do know who you are and they would never agree on this."

\- "And how's that?"

\- "It's almost a law amongst my people to know the best warriors from every clan; to know those who have the best qualities to become leaders, soldiers or healers. Nyko spoke about what you did in the village, how you tried to protect them; Anya spoke about your actions on the bridge and the way you carried yourself; Lincoln spoke about your qualities as a warrior to a few of his friends and what he knew about you. You may not know who we are Samantha, but we know who you are."

\- "Are you trying to tell me that you guys have been stalking me? Cause I don't know how to feel about this... I'm half honored half concerned." –I paused- "What do you want from me then, Commander?"

\- "I have an offer for you."

\- "And what may that be?"

\- "I know you have a potential to explode, you could be the best warrior from Skaikru."

\- "I still don't get what the offer is."

\- "I offer you training, like we do, like Lincoln started doing but at a higher level. I know you want to be able to protect your loved ones; I'm giving you the opportunity to become the best warrior you can be."

\- "What do you get from this?"

\- "Hopefully you'll learn from us, you'll get to know us and, if you become as good as we think you can be, I hope you'd be open to the idea of becoming one of my warriors."

\- "Commander, as much as I'm tempted to take your offer, I don't think your people would accept one from the sky into your territory, not to even mention their lives."

\- "I'm their Commander and they know I always do the best for our people. They'd understand it."

I remained silent considering everything Lexa had told me.  _Of course, I want to become the best I can because we will never be safe here. I need to be able to defend myself as well as protect others. Lexa is giving me an option, the Commander of the Grounders says they think I could become one of the best. I mean, how do you let that escape._

\- "You don't have to answer me now, Samantha."

\- "I know what I want to do."

\- "But you are not sure your people will accept your decision."

\- "I'm worried about a couple of them, yes."

\- "You may go back and talk with them about it. None of my people will harm you. You may come to see me whenever you are ready to give me an answer."

\- "If I don't take that offer...?"

\- "As much as I think you'd be making a mistake, there would be no negative consequences; you have my word."

\- "Very well. Thank you, Commander."

\- "You don't need to refer to me like that in private, call me Lexa."

\- "Then you may call me Sam, Lexa."

I bowed down a bit with a smile on my face.

\- "There's really nothing I can do for Finn, is it?"

\- "I think you already know what answer."

\- "Only Finn can pay for his crimes."

Lexa nodded and I turned to leave. As I went out, I saw it was daylight now and Indra was standing on one side of the tent.

\- "What did you say?"

\- "The Commander is giving me some time to think about it."

\- "One of my warriors will take you back, then."

\- "Thank you, Indra."

\- "I hope we'll see you soon."

\- "It's highly possible, I won't lie to you."

\- "Out of fear or respect?"

\- "Always out of respect."

Indra nodded and called the same warrior that brought me here. He helped me on the horse and started moving. As we passed through the Grounders camp, some looked at me with disgust on their faces but others with respect.  _Who would have told me I'd find myself in such a situation when we landed?_  As we were halfway between our destination and our starting point, the Grounders started to chant something on their language.

\- "I wish I could learn your language." –I spoke not really expecting an answer from my companion.

\- "Jus drein, jus daun." –he spoke- "It means 'blood must have blood'."

\- "Jus drein, jus daun." –I repeated- "Thank you."

\- "If you take the Commander's offer, we will teach you Trigedasleng."

\- "You know about it?"

\- "Some of us do." –he simply answered- "I hope you won't turn it down."

We remained silent until we reached the entrance of our camp and guards started screaming inside.

\- "How do you say 'thank you'?"

\- "Mochof."

He helped me down from the horse and I turned to face him.

\- "Mochof, then."

He nodded down at me and I turned around to face the door as guards pointed guns at us.

\- "Can y'all just let me in?"

\- "It's the girl!"

\- "She's back."

\- "And she's alive!"

People inside kept screaming as I rolled my eyes and looked at the Grounders behind me. One of the horses moved its face towards me and I raised my hand to touch it.

\- "Get inside now." –a guard screamed, startling me.

\- "Now you rush me?" –I asked cynically.

I walked inside and was soon hit by a force that made me fall to the ground.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

The Grounders had started shouting something and we all feared the worst. We heard the main gate open and sure enough, Sam came through rolling her eyes.

\- "What the fuck?" –Sam said as she fell to the ground in Octavia's arms.

\- "Sam, you're alright!" –Octavia's voice was full of emotion- "We thought they were going to kill you, and once they started chanting we thought..."

\- "And the first thing you think of doing is pushing me with such force to the ground? Well, I'm terribly glad to be back then." –Sam chuckled holding her back as she sat them both up.

\- "I'm so going to kill you." – Murphy's voice made her raise her head up- "Let go of her, I want to hug her too, Octavia!"

Octavia smiled and let go of her as Murphy offered her his hand to stand up and, as soon as she was up, he held her tightly to his chest.

\- "I knew something was wrong when Clarke didn't oppose. What happened? What did you do? What did they say? Did they do anything to you?"

\- "Hey, hey, slow down. I'm fine, I promise. Their intention was never to kill me, M."

\- "You scared us to death. Bellamy took it the worst of us, he even punched..."

I cleared my throat behind them, interrupting Murphy from saying anything else, but without speaking myself, not knowing what to say.

\- "Bellamy." –her voice calmed me down a bit.

\- "I'm so incredibly mad at you right now, Samantha." –I started letting my feelings get the best of me- "How could you do that? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

I couldn't keep going for a force hit me unexpectedly, making me give a few steps back, having Sam wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my chest.

\- "I know you're mad and you have all the right to feel that way, Bell. I didn't tell you because I know you would have tried to lock me up and I needed to try." –she looked at me now- "As you can see, there's nothing I could do. Yes, I offered myself instead of Finn but the Commander told me she would never take the life of an innocent for a murderer's crimes; so, basically, we're screwed."

\- "I think I like that Commander a little more right now." –I confessed, stroking her check.

\- "Now, tell me who did you get in a fight with while I was gone."

\- "A wall." –I confessed as she took both my hands in hers and inspected them.

\- "I'm sorry."

\- "Why?"

\- "You did this to yourself because you were angry at me. Next time wait until I'm back, my body is softer than a wall and it'll hurt you less."

\- "I'd never hit you."

\- "Right, because I'd win you and we don't want that." –she let go of me- "Where are Clarke and Finn?"

\- "I saw Clarke entering one of the tents as the Grounders started chanting."

\- "I need to speak with them."

\- "You need to tell me what happened with the Commander."

\- "I will, I promise. And I will also check your wounds and take care of you all you want but now I need to tell them what's going on."

\- "I love you." –I found myself saying.

\- "I love you too." –she smiled softly at me- "But we have no time to lose, I need your leader façade now."

My heart clenched as we both said those words, sure she didn't mean it the same way I did, but I was too happy to have her back to even give it a second thought, so I guided her to where I had last seen Clarke but we didn't get there for they were both walking inside the ship.

\- "Clarke! Finn!" –Sam yelled as she saw them and started running after them.

\- "Sam?" –both questioned in surprise.

\- "I know, I tried but it didn't work... I'm sorry."

\- "What did you try?" –Finn questioned honestly.

\- "She told the Commander to kill her instead of you..."–Murphy spoke coming beside us- "That's what Sam, who apparently was also to blame for your actions..." –he said looking at Clarke- "...was doing."

\- "What did she say?" –Clarke asked walking inside pushing Finn in.

\- "She won't take the life of an innocent for that of a murderer."

\- "We are all murders here." -Clarke scoffed at Sam.

\- "You think I didn't tell her that? You didn't think I told her the first murderer in this camp is me?" -Sam clenched her fits at her sides, trying to remain calm- "All to save your boyfriend's life so that you won't collapse and get the ones I love killed. So, don't even try patronizing me about it." –she turned to face Finn now- "I did all I could, I'm sorry, Finn."

\- "Are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same I did?" –Clarke asked her.

\- "For the right person? Without a second thought."

\- "Then why are you mad at me?"

\- "I'm not mad at you for letting me go, I'm mad at you for questioning my actions and thinking I didn't do the best I could to save Finn. It's like you haven't gotten anything right about me all this damn time."

Sam turned around ready to leave.

\- "Where are you going?" –Octavia asked her.

\- "Someone has to tell Raven what happened, it might as well be me." –Sam spoke softly to her and Octavia nodded, letting her go.

\- "You alright?" –I asked walking beside her.

\- "Yeah, don't worry. I got this."

\- "I meant..."

\- "I know. I just need to be away from them both before their issues glue to us. I don't need that right now." –she stopped and faced me- "You go with them, maybe you'll find something to do about this while I talk with Raven."

\- "I'll come for you as soon as we know something, alright?"

\- "Sounds like a plan."

She gave me a soft smile and kept walking away. I turned around and entered the ship looking for Clarke.


	9. jus drein jus daun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our delinquents decided the best option for Finn is to leave the main ship. Everyone is a little jumpy and things only get worse as time passes. Bellamy and Murphy agree on something for once in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: CHARACTER'S DEATH

******SAM'S POV**

Once I found Raven and explained to her that Lexa had turned down my offer, her face showed relief and concern at the same time. A horn blew in the distance and, once we got out into the open to check what was going on, I caught a glimpse of Bellamy and Clarke entering the ship so Raven and I followed them.

\- "Hey!" –Raven spoke first- "What happened now?"

\- "It's Kane. He's back." –Bellamy explained to us.

\- "Oh great, another wannabe chancellor to make things run smoothly. I love Earth." –I rolled my eyes.

\- "He said he bought us some time and is going to talk with my mom now."

\- "I see, chancellor Kane saves the day; can't wait to have him bossing around again." –I kept talking my feelings out loud.

\- "At least he's doing something."

\- "Alright, I'm going to bite my tongue right now and ignore your bitterness towards me." –I said really keeping it together- "Can we listen or get to know what's going on?"

\- "I'll go look for Finn while you figure out what's going on." –Clarke ignored me and talked to Bellamy and Raven.

\- "Alright." –Raven said- "Let's go."

Bellamy and Raven moved in one direction and Clarke in another while I remained outside the ship, looking at the door.

\- "Sam? You coming?"

\- "Are you sure you want me to? Because apparently I'm useless and want Finn to die." –I retorted sarcastically.

\- "I'd feel better if you came with me." –Raven informed me.

\- "To keep an eye on me? Alright, sure." –I moved after her.

\- "Come on, Sam." –Bellamy placed an arm around my shoulders- "You know she doesn't mean it."

\- "Yeah, I just can feel this bitterness against me growing as the time passes and we don't find a way out for Finn. But I understand." –I squeezed his hand and walked to where the chancellors were.

We had been waiting outside for around 30 minutes when Abbie came out.

\- "What's happening?"- Raven immediately asked.

\- "You've been there a long time." –Bellamy added.

\- "It must have been a big idea he came up with, then."

\- "Well, there was a lot to talk about." –Abbie answered us.

\- "What's going on?" –Raven demanded.

\- "There was a lot to talk about." –Abbie repeated herself and we stopped her.

\- "Hey, we are not turning him over to the Grounders."

\- "Step aside, now."

After a few moments of hesitation, we moved from her way.

\- "We're all trying to find a way out of this." –Abbie said before leaving.

\- "They are gonna give him up." –Bellamy spoke as we watched her leave.

\- "They can't."

\- "We need to find him before they do." –I quickly spoke.

\- "I'll get a way out ready while you both go after him and Clarke." –Raven looked at us and started moving.

I nodded and started moving with Bellamy until we found Finn leaning back on a wall with Clarke next to him.

\- "Finn." –Bellamy called- "You need to get out of here."

\- "Where would he go?" –Clarke questioned.

\- "The dropship."

\- "No." –Clarke protested- "You know this is the safest place..."

\- "No, it isn't. They are turning him in. We can protect him at the dropship until we figure this out." –Bellamy explained as we moved through the hallways of the ship- "Grab your gear and meet us at Raven's gate in five."

\- "Okay, but nobody's coming with me." –Finn argued.

\- "That's not up for discussion." –I looked up at him.

\- "We're surrounded by Grounders." –Clarke reminded us.

\- "We split up, take the low ground, we'll make it through." –Bellamy reassured her- "Meet us at the dropship."

\- "There he is." –a man walked towards us followed by a crowd.

\- "You're gonna get us killed." –another guy said pointing at Finn.

The man moved towards us with a threatening look on his face. I moved in front of Clarke, Finn, and Bellamy and made him stop.

\- "Get out of my way little girl. We want him, not you."

_Little girl? Excuse you?_

\- "If you want him, you'll have to get through me."

\- "That should be easy." –he said with a cocky smile.

\- "Alright, it's not like I didn't warn you."

The man moved his fists up ready to knock me out, but I put in practice Lincoln's lessons and moved faster than him, punching him on the stomach, making him double in pain. Taking advantage of his position I raised my knee up and crashed it into his chin, making him fall backward. The rest of the crowd looked at the man on the floor and then at me.

\- "So..." –I said straightening up and raising my eyebrows, making eye contact with all of them- "Who's next?"

The crowd remained silent and still.

\- "Bellamy's right." –Clarke spoke- "We have to go."

She then moved past me followed by Finn as Bellamy moved beside me.

\- "Look at that, turns out you are right, how surprising is that?"

\- "Come on, Sam. We need to gear up."

\- "Whatever you want, boss."

We walked towards the weapons room; each of us took a rifle and Bellamy took an extra gun and handed me another.

\- "I'd rather get my knives back if you don't mind."

\- "You need the gun, if the Grounders attack you your knives won't be enough."

\- "Bellamy." –I faced him- "I don't need protection from them. There's something I have to tell you but we don't have much time so I'll sum it up and once we are done with this I'll tell you all about it, as promised."

\- "Alright."

\- "Lexa, I mean, the Commander made me an offer."

\- "What type of offer."

\- "That's not the point right now. The thing is, because of that, the Grounders won't hurt me."

\- "You are trying to tell me you trust the word of the Commander who's trying to kill Finn?" –he questioned raising his eyebrow.

\- "I like this situation as much as you, Bellamy." –I crossed my arms over my chest.

\- "Tell me you are not giving them Finn."

\- "Wao, alright, Blake." –I scoffed pushing past him and walking out of the room- "Just because I know there's no way out of this doesn't mean I'm handing him in without a fight."

\- "Sam, wait."

\- "No. Thanks for the leap of faith."

\- "I didn't mean that."

\- "It's fine, really." –I stepped out of the ship and towards Raven's gate- "It's just nice to know where everyone stands."

\- "I just wanted to know if that was her offer, I didn't mean you were taking it."

\- "My life for his? Are you serious?" –I asked in disbelief- "I wouldn't have even considered that an offer. Do you even know me?"

\- "Then what was it?"

\- "It's a long story; all you need to know now is they won't hurt me."

\- "But..."

\- "Finally, guys!" –Raven thankfully interrupted him as she saw us approaching- "Everything's ready."

\- "Good." –I simply said- "You got my knives?"

\- "Yeah." –she handed them to me- "I should have given them back earlier."

\- "Don't worry about it." –I put them on their places and handed her the rifle- "This one's for you."

\- "But Sam, what about you."

\- "I'll be fine. You need this more than I do."

\- "We're here." –Clarke said stepping behind us- "How do we do this?"

\- "We split up and meet at the dropship." –Bellamy simply explained.

\- "Alright, let's get moving then." –I stepped out first- "See y'all there."

I started running away from camp, hiding from the guards back there to make sure no one knew we were leaving. I didn't see any Grounders on my way so I imagined everything was going just fine. Once I was almost at the dropship, I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around fast with a knife in my hand.

\- "Hey, it's me."

\- "For fuck's shake Murphy!" –I yelled putting my knife down- "What are you doing here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

\- "Are you?"

\- "What do you mean 'are you'?" –I inquired starting to walk again with him- "I'm not the one who almost got a knife through my chest."

\- "I mean you came out here with only two knives, Sam."

\- "Yeah?"

\- "What's going on?"

\- "Nothing. I gave my rifle to Raven, that's it."

\- "Don't lie to me, Sam. You know you can trust me."

\- "The Commander doesn't want us, M. She wants Finn."

\- "That doesn't mean her warriors won't kill us."

\- "They won't kill me nor you if you stay with me."

\- "Why do you look so sure?"

\- "Let's say I got a job offer from the Commander and until I take it or turn it down, no Grounder will harm me."

\- "A job offer?" –he laughed- "That's not something I expected to hear today."

\- "Well, me neither, I was as surprised as you when the Commander told me about it."

\- "Does anyone know?"

\- "I told Bellamy the Commander wouldn't harm me because she made me an offer but... well, he asked if she wanted me to bring Finn in and I honestly felt offended." –I confessed- "Besides him, only you know."

\- "I don't think you'd even consider that an offer." –he said as we approached the entrance of our past camp- "What was it then?"

\- "To put it simply? She wants me to train with them."

\- "What? Why?"

\- "I don't know. I was going to talk with Lincoln about it but I never got the chance."

\- "Whatever you chose to do, Sam." –he said placing an arm around my shoulders- "I'm with you."

\- "Thanks, M. You're truly the best." –I laughed- "Sometimes, at least."

Murphy laughed with me as we entered the dropship, only to be met with Bellamy's rifle.

\- "Hey! Hey! It's us, calm down. You truly don't wanna kill your best bud and your girl."

\- "Murphy?" –Bellamy spoke surprised- "What are you doing here?"

\- "I believe I was invited." –he said looking at Raven.

\- "I thought we could use an extra gun."

\- "That's some smart thinking." –I looked at Raven and then around the dropship- "Where's the couple?"

\- "Finn should have been right behind him."

\- "Don't worry, the spacewalker's gonna be fine."

We remained silent for a couple minutes until footsteps were heard outside the dropship. I stood up from beside Murphy as everyone got their guns ready. Finn stepped inside with Clarke on his arms.

\- "What happened?" –I asked immediately.

\- "A Grounder hit her on the head."

\- "Put her here." –Bellamy pointed beside him- "I need a bandage, a wrap, anything."

I lowered down and took Clarke's head on my lap and turned her head to see the wound. She was bleeding but it didn't seem too bad. Murphy handed Bellamy a bandage and he pressed it against her wound.

\- "Clarke, can you hear me?" –Bellamy spoke with a deeply worried tone.

Clarke moved a bit and groaned in pain.

\- "Hey, don't move." –I said softly.

\- "You're gonna be fine, Clarke. You just need to rest."

\- "Yeah but please don't fall asleep because we all lack any medical experience and although I'm guessing it's just a concussion, I'm not about to see you die on my lap, so please stay with us."

Clarke nodded almost imperceptibly and I took the bandage from Bellamy's hand to check the bleeding.

\- "The blood seems to be stopping from flowing, so that's good." –I examined looking up at Finn who was pacing around the ship.

Raven looked at him and moved to talk to him.

\- "Hey, Clarke's gonna be fine. Are you?" –Finn didn't answer so Raven kept talking- "We'll figure this out."

\- "That's what she said right before I almost got her killed."

Finn answered looking down at Clarke and storming out of the dropship. Raven looked at us and followed him.

\- "These people have a lot of unspoken issues." –Murphy sat beside me.

\- "You sure know how to lighten up the mood, don't you?" –Bellamy said as I glanced at them for a second.

\- "As if you both weren't thinking the same." –he smiled- "I just said it out loud for you."

\- "Oh, what would I do with you? My little ray of sunshine in this storm of feelings."

\- "So poetic, I like it." –he laughed.

\- "You both think this is the time for flirting?" –Bellamy lectured us standing up from where he was beside me.

\- "First of all, why do you care? Second of all, have a little faith; you passed out too when my friend over here hit you in the head, give Clarke a moment, I'm sure she'll be fine."

\- "I'm sure he's just jealous, Sam."

\- "Of whom? Of you?" –Bellamy almost chuckled.

\- "Are you both interacting without being at each other's throats? I'm impressed."

Raven entered the dropship again and lowered next to me.

\- "You alright?" –I asked her.

\- "Yeah, how's she?"

\- "She'll be fine, don't worry." –I looked at her and sensed she wanted to be left alone- "Here, hold her head. I'll go outside to take a watch."

Raven nodded and gave me a small smile. Once Clarke's head was on Raven's legs and I had stood up, I gave Murphy and Bellamy a look and pointed with my head outside; they understood and followed me outside, leaving Raven to her thoughts. Finn was sat outside the dropship, playing with a branch.

\- "Hey." –I kneeled in front of him- "She's gonna be fine, alright? She's strong, you know a little bump won't stop her; she just needs to rest for a moment, I'm sure she's exhausted too."

\- "Thank you, Sam, for everything you've done."

\- "My pleasure."

\- "Seriously, Sam. No one else would have gone to the Commander with such offer."

\- "My job is to keep y'all alive and in line, I'll do what needs to be done. No need to thank me, Finn."

\- "You know many people would have been mad at me if you had died, right?" –he looked beside me and I turned to see Murphy and Bellamy looking down at us.

\- "They'll have gotten over it." –I smiled- "There's a bunch of other annoying girls like me down here." –I stood up- "Don't be so hard on yourself, Finn."

He gave me a small smile before entering the dropship to check on Raven and Clarke.

\- "You know that's not true, right?" –Murphy asked as I walked up to them.

\- "What isn't?"

\- "There's not many people like you, Sam."

\- "Flattery will get you nowhere. You should know this by now, M."

\- "I mean it."

\- "Me too."

\- "Sam..." –Bellamy started.

\- "Not you too."

\- "Murphy and I may not get along, but we both agree on one thing."

\- "Do enlighten me, please."

\- "There's no one like you, Sam."

\- "There's no one like you two either so I guess we all got lucky to be sent down here together." –I smiled placing an arm around each of them- "I'm lucky to have you both."

\- "Flattery will get you nowhere, Sam." –Murphy mocked me so I let go of him and placed both my arms around Bellamy.

\- "Who said I was trying to get anywhere with you, M?" –I looked at him up and down and the three of us laughed.

I glanced behind Bellamy for a second and I saw a Grounder looking directly at us.

\- "They're here." –I whispered letting go of him.

\- "Here."

He handed me his gun and he and Murphy took his rifles on their hands. We covered ourselves with the remains of a couple burnt trees as Raven got out of the dropship and lowered beside me.

\- "Get out here. We've got company." –Bellamy screamed for Clarke and Finn.

As the six of us looked around us to see what we were dealing with, Clarke spoke.

\- "We're surrounded."

\- "We should get inside." –Finn spoke.

We entered the dropship one by one, Bellamy insisting on being the last one; he stood by the door, checking the movements of the Grounders and, eventually, Murphy joined him.

\- "They're not moving any closer."

\- "They're staying out of range, they'll be waiting until it's dark." –Bellamy faced us.

\- "If we hit them now, we take them by surprise." –Murphy turned around too.

\- "We don't know how many of them there are." –I argued- "Could be five or fifty for all we know."

\- "I'm not hearing any better ideas, Sam." –Murphy told me.

\- "We'll give them something." –Raven spoke.

\- "Raven, you know they only want Finn. They wouldn't take me, what makes you think they'll take anything else?"

\- "Well, you're a girl and they know Finn is a guy." –Raven started explaining- "He wasn't the only guy at the village."

\- "You can't be serious." –I spoke knowing where she was going- "Tell me you aren't." –I pleaded stepping next to Murphy.

\- "What is she talking about?" –Clarke asked me.

\- "Raven." –Murphy spoke- "I came here to protect him. You were the one who wanted me to come. You..." –he stopped as the realization hit him- "That's why you asked me to come along?" –he kind of smiled, probably impressed by Raven's tactics.

\- "Enough Grounders saw him at the village." –Raven explained again- "They'd believe he was the shooter."

\- "You sick bitch." –Murphy stated looking her up and down.

\- "Raven, you don't mean this." –Clarke tried to reason with her.

\- "You know what they do to people." –Bellamy reminded her.

\- "They want a murderer, we'll give them one." –Raven said and pointed her rifle at Murphy.

\- "Raven, listen to me." –I stepped in between her and Murphy- "They don't want just any murderer or they would have taken any of us, they want the murderer of their people."

\- "Sam, allow me." –Murphy asked, pushing me softly aside- "Go to hell Raven." –he moved towards the rifle.

\- "Put it down, Raven." –Clarke asked- "Like it or not, he's one of us."

\- "I said drop it!" –she pushed the rifle to Murphy's chest.

\- "Stop, stop." –Finn said pulling down Raven's rifle- "We're not doing this. They've got us surrounded, the only thing we can do is stay and defend this place."

\- "I'm with you." –Bellamy agreed.

\- "Me too." –I said when Finn looked at me.

He nodded as Clarke and Raven agreed too, nodding.

\- "Murphy."

\- "Yeah?" –he asked.

\- "Go upstairs, watch the rear. Sam, go with him. I'll take the lower level. You three take the front gate." –he commanded- "That's the plan, alright?"

We all silently agreed and Murphy was the first to move. Bellamy moved to the front door followed by Clarke. I moved to the table to pick the gun Bellamy gave me earlier and that I had left there as I sat down.

\- "Hey, we got this." –Raven spoke.

\- "May we meet again." –Finn answered hugging her.

_That seems off._

\- "We will." –she responded.

\- "Yeah."

As I moved towards the stairs, Finn moved to the hatch that opened to the lower level and spoke with Clarke.

\- "Be careful."

\- "You too."

Clarke walked away as I walked up the stairs.

\- "Sam?" –I heard Finn's voice.

\- "Yeah?"

\- "Take care of them."

\- "You know they're gonna be fine, Finn. They are both strong."

\- "Yeah." –he said starting to go down his stairs- "Thank you, for everything."

\- "Thank me when we're out of this one." –I smiled at him as he disappeared down the stairs.

Once I got to the upper level, Murphy was sat on one side looking through the massive hold he had left last time.

\- "Are you okay?" –I asked sitting down opposite of him.

\- "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

\- "M..."

\- "I am. I just thought they were all starting to get used to me, but apparently, they still see me as an outsider."

\- "Some people need more time to heal, you just have to keep doing what you've been doing, you'll eventually grow on them. Hell, you're even starting to get along with Bellamy and that sure is something I never thought I'd see again."

\- "We only get along when it comes to you."

\- "I mean, there's got to be a starting point. I'm flattered it's me." –I chuckled.

Clarke and Raven's screams brought us back.

\- "What happened? Can you see anything?" –I asked him.

\- "There's no one here, maybe they need help at the front."

\- "Let's go."

Once Murphy and I got there, Bellamy, Raven, and Clarke had their guns down and were looking at the exit as the Grounders were leaving.  _What's going on?_

\- "What happened?" –Murphy asked for both of us as Bellamy faced us.

\- "Finn turned himself in."

**CLARKE'S POV**

It was nighttime when we got back to camp. The Grounder's torches could be seen from every part of our camp as they shouted on their language while a couple of them built a post.

\- "What's that?" –Raven asked.

\- "It's for Finn." –I answered- "They want us to watch."

\- "We're gonna get him. We'll get in close and we'll hit them hard." –Bellamy spoke.

\- "Son..." –Kane talked- "...there's thousands of them. Even if we could kill hundreds they'd still wipe out this camp and your friend would still die."

\- "We have to try."

\- "Abbie..." –Raven pleaded- "Abbie, we have to do something."

\- "No, Raven."

Raven's eyes started to water as she turned to look at the Grounders.

\- "We should have killed him ourselves." –Sam said leaving us.

\- "What are you saying?" –Bellamy followed her and I went after them.

\- "Mercy killing is what I'm saying, like we... I did with Atom." –Sam confronted him- "You don't know what he's up for and I seriously hope he'll die soon." –she added and I understood what she meant.

\- "How can you say that?" –Raven pushed her back, but Sam didn't oppose.

\- "Here." –I said giving all my weapons to Bellamy.

\- "What are you doing?"

\- "I'm gonna talk to the Commander."

\- "What else do you have to say, Clarke?"

\- "I don't know."

\- "Clarke, he won't take you instead of him, you know this." –Sam spoke.

\- "Maybe she should have taken you since you're so ready to give up!" –Raven yelled at her.

\- "Raven..." –Bellamy tried to calm her down.

\- "No, she's right. I too wish she would have taken me, I'm sure that'd been easier on you. I'm sorry I failed you, Raven." –Sam faced me- "You know there's not much you can do. Just be careful." –she said and left us there.

\- "Sam..." –I said trying to find something to say but she was long gone.

\- "Give me your hand." –Raven asked me.

I gave it to her and she placed a knife up my sleeve.

\- "If she won't let him go, kill her." –she was desperate by now and I knew she would do and say whatever came to her mind now- "Things will go crazy and then we'll grab you and Finn. Clarke, you have to help him. I owe him my life."

I looked at her unsure of what to say. Raven was desperate to get Finn back, to the point she would say all those hurtful things to Sam. I had acted the same way towards Sam when she came back, blinded by my own feelings and unable to see that she had tried all she could think of to help Finn.  _Maybe Sam was right all this time. There is not much I can do for Finn now, but that won't stop me from trying._  The door opened in front of me and I left the camp and entered Grounder territory. I had to walk through a line of Grounders who looked at me up and down until I got to the Commander's tent. The woman from last time stood in front of me with a spear pointed at me.

\- "I'm here to talk to your Commander."

Her spear pointed at my abdomen and I moved forward to the point where it cut through me, making me bleed.

\- "Let me through."

\- "Let her pass." –Lexa ordered coming out of her tent.

She took the spear away from me and I walked towards Lexa.

\- "You bleed for nothing." –she said- "You cannot stop this."

\- "No." –I agreed- "Only you can."

Grounders started shouting as they brought Finn to the post, tying him up to it.

\- "Show my people how powerful you are." –I continued- "Show them you can be merciful. Show them you're not a savage."

\- "We are what we are."

\- "Then I'm a killer."

\- "Samantha already tried that. I won't take anyone else."

\- "It's not the same." -I tried again- "I burned 300 of your people. I slit a man's throat and watched him die. I'm soaked in Grounder blood. Take me."

\- "But Finn is guilty."

\- "No." -I pleaded feeling the tears on my eyes- "He did it for me."

\- "Then he dies for you."

That's when I understood Finn was going to die tonight, one way or another. Sam's words resonated on the back of my mind and I felt Raven's knife on my skin.

\- "Can I say goodbye?" –I asked, almost a whisper.

Lexa nodded her head and I moved towards Finn, kissing him one last time.

\- "I love you too." –I confessed remembering the time he told me and I didn't say it back.

\- "I'm scared."

\- "You're gonna be okay." –I assured him, hugging him as the tears started running down my face and my voice began to break- "You're okay." –I said putting the knife to his abdomen.

\- "Thanks, princess."

Those were Finn's last words before his head fell forward. He was dead. I moved away from him, covered in blood, with the knife still on my hand. I turned to face the Grounders who, upon seen what I had done, took their swords.

\- "It is done." –Lexa stopped them.

I heard Raven's screams from the camp as what I had just done hit me completely. I had killed Finn.


	10. It's done.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam talks with Lincoln and Octavia about Lexa’s offer. As Finn’s death settles on everyone’s minds, they march towards the village where the massacre occurred to properly bury the dead. Sam comes to a realization.

**SAM'S POV**

I knew there was nothing they could do to save Finn same way I knew whatever Clarke chose to do, wouldn't be easy on her. I made my way to the medical room where I knew Octavia would be watching over Lincoln.

\- "Hey, am I interrupting?" –I asked as I entered the room.

\- "We're just talking, Sam." –Octavia hugged me- "I have something for you tho." –she spoke with a smirk on her face.

\- "I'm not sure I'm going to like this."

She punched me as hard as she could on my arm, making me take a couple steps back and raise my hand to where she had hit me to massage the spot.

\- "That's for leaving to get yourself killed without saying anything."

\- "I see." –I smiled moving back next to her- "I deserve it. Next time I try something like that, I won't tell you either, don't mind me."

\- "You sure are stupidly in love with death."

\- "I try to do what's best for all of us."

\- "I'm not having this discussion right now."

\- "Good..." –I faced Lincoln- "...because I was coming to see your boyfriend who gave us a major scare, by the way."

\- "Hello, Sam." –Lincoln greeted me with a smile.

\- "How are you feeling?" –I asked moving beside him.

\- "I'm getting better, slowly but it's best than how I was when you found me."

\- "I'm glad you're back. I was already used to having you around."

\- "Thank you." –he smiled a bit- "We've been told you went to see the Commander."

\- "I guess you do." –I replied, looking sideways at Octavia who only smiled at me- "There's nothing any of us could have done for Finn."

\- "How's Raven?"

\- "Not too good. I just hope it'll be quick and he dies soon."

\- "The Commander told you about the ritual?"

\- "Yeah. When I told her to take me instead of Finn she explained what I was signing up for. I don't think anyone could survive till sunrise but maybe just half of it; that's why I said we should have killed Finn instead... quick and painless, but everyone thought I was insane."

\- "The Grounders wouldn't have appreciated that."

\- "Well, I wasn't thinking about the Grounders when I said it." –I retorted sarcastically- "Either way it's too late, Finn turned himself in so there's truly nothing we can do now."

\- "I'm glad she didn't take your offer Sam, you're a friend I wouldn't like to see die."

\- "That's very nice from you, Lincoln. I hope we'll all get to live a long happy life together."

Octavia and Lincoln looked at each other before we all busted out laughing.

\- "But, I have to be honest now. I didn't only come here to check on you, although that was the main reason."

\- "What's wrong?" –Octavia worriedly asked me.

\- "Nothing really." –I quickly answered her- "The Commander made me an offer and, well, since you're a Grounder, Lincoln, I thought you may be able to help me out."

\- "Anything you need, Sam."

\- "So, basically she told me how you guys try to get to know the best warriors and healers and all that jazz from other clans, I'm guessing to know what you'd be up to if a war stroke."

\- "Yeah."

\- "She told me some of you had spoken to her about me."

\- "What do you mean 'some of you'?" –Octavia asked, looking at me and at Lincoln in turns.

\- "Lexa, I mean, the Commander told me Anya told her about us at the bridge, Nyko told her what I did at the village and she got some more information about me from Lincoln's friends."

\- "Sam, I'm..."

\- "No, it's fine. It's nothing bad, I promise." –I squeezed his hand- "Anyway, the thing is she is convinced I have this great potential to become a great warrior or soldier or something like that."

\- "You do, you're a good fight, Sam." –Octavia encouraged me.

\- "What was the offer?"

\- "Yeah, so, for all those reasons she offered me to train with them, with you, with the Grounders I mean. She knows I want to be able to protect the ones I love and she offers me that power through training." –I explained shortly.

\- "What does she get from this?" –Octavia asked curiously.

\- "Me getting to know them, their traditions and that they are not savages which I don't think you are..." –I glanced at Lincoln- "...but she seems to think since some of the people here do, then we all must think the same."

\- "Just that? Seems off." –Octavia was suspicious.

\- "There's one more thing to it, really."

\- "And...?"

\- "She says that maybe, if I become good enough and get to like them... I could become one of her warriors."

Octavia remained silence, her face didn't show any emotions.

\- "Sam, do you know what that means? Not many of us get to be called to fight hand in hand for the Commander."

I looked at Octavia, worriedly.

\- "I'm guessing that means it's a once in a life opportunity type of shit." –I assumed.

Lincoln nodded at me and I smiled gratefully.

\- "Although I don't think you came here for advice but rather for permission." –Lincoln said looking between me and Octavia.

\- "I did want to know what your opinion was, but I also wanted to tell O about it before I did something about it."

\- "The offer is for you Sam, not for me." –Octavia smiled, finally.

\- "I thought you should know, I don't want to take it if it's going to make things weird between us."

\- "Sam, you and I have gone through a lot together to ever get separated." –Octavia came next to me- "I don't want you not taking it because you think it'd damage our friendship."

\- "I..."

\- "Listen, Sam, I know you too well. I'm sure you already know what you want to do."

\- "I do."

\- "Then why are you looking at me like that?" –she chuckled.

\- "I... I guess I was worried you'd hate me or something if I took the offer because of everything that's been going on."

\- "Sam." –she laughed- "My boyfriend is a Grounder."

\- "Well, that's true." –I smiled happily.

\- "You should know better by now." –she punched me lightly on the upper arm- "Have you talked about this to anyone else?"

\- "You both are the first I explained it completely to. I told your brother the Grounders wouldn't harm me because of an offer the Commander had made to me but I didn't explain it to him. I also told Murphy a bit about it."

\- "And?"

\- "Murphy said he's on my side whatever I choose to do. I still need to talk with Bellamy."

\- "Not that is my business but, Sam, this offer is for you and only you, why are you concerned of what other may say?" –Lincoln questioned me.

\- "Well, because there'd be no point in me training to protect the ones I love if there's no one left that likes me."

\- "You know Bellamy would never stop loving you."

I was about to answer her when Raven's screams interrupted us.

\- "I should go check what happened." –I excused myself.

\- "I'll go with you."

\- "No, it's fine. Stay with Lincoln."

Lincoln thanked me for the visit and I hugged Octavia goodbye. Once I got out and made my way to the front, I saw Raven screaming and crying on the ground in Bellamy's arms.  _I guess it's started._  I walked up to them as Bellamy looked up to see me, he shook his head towards the Grounders camp and I followed his gaze. From what I could see, Finn was dead but there was no fire or Grounders around him. I kept looking only to see Clarke talking with Lexa.

\- "She did it." –I whispered mostly to myself in surprise.

\- "You gave her the idea, this is your fault." –Raven yelled at me.

I looked at her. She looked so small and so broken, my heart broke seeing her like that.  _Maybe I could have saved Finn, maybe I could have saved Raven all this pain._  I knew she was angry and I had become her target now, which I thought was better than any other possible outcomes. I knew seeing me would only make things worse so I turned to leave.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Sam."

\- "Take care of Raven" –she said turning to face me- "I'm no good here now."

\- "But..." –I stood up as Abbie came to hug Raven now.

\- "I love her and she needs a friend. I can't be that person for her now, I'd feel better if it were you." –she explained and I could feel the pain on her words.

\- "Don't push me away, Sam." –I begged.

\- "I'm not. I just need you to stay with her."

\- "Then where are you going?"

\- "To the Grounder's camp. There's an offer I need to accept."

\- "The Commander's? After what just happened?" –I protested sounding more aggressive than intended.

\- "I wish we had had more time to go through this." –she sighed- "Lexa is offering me to train with them."

\- "You want to become one of them?"

I knew my tone was hurting her and I didn't mean to sound so angry but what had just happened was also taking a tool on me and Sam was getting the worse of it.

\- "This is not about who I am." –she spoke trying to remain as calm as she could- "She is offering me the power to protect the people I love, Bellamy; maybe if I had had that power earlier I could have saved Finn and Raven would be alright."

\- "No one could have stopped this, Sam. Stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. We are together in this." –I took her hand, preventing her from moving any further away from me.

\- "I know. That's why I wanted to talk with you before I spoke with Lexa again."

\- "But you're already going to accept and we haven't talked about it." –I reminded her.

\- "I wasn't going to until I got your opinion, but seeing Raven like that... I hate feeling powerless and useless."

\- "Why did you want my opinion then? Knowing you I'm surprised you didn't take it as she told you." –I stroke her check giving her a small smile.

\- "Because your opinion matters to me, Bellamy." –she said looking at my eyes, as if she were staring at my soul- "I know I want to be the best I can to protect all of us but if that broke what we have..."

\- "I'd never stop you from doing what you want to do, Sam." –I admitted embracing her in my arms- "I'm just worried the people won't take it well if you suddenly leave with the Grounders." –I expressed my concern.

\- "I know that."

\- "When does the offer expire."

\- "It doesn't, she told me to go talk with her when I'm ready."

\- "You don't have to listen to me but..." –I let go of her so I could look into her eyes- "Why don't you wait a little longer? Let people begin to heal before you leave us."

\- "Leave?" –she raised her eyebrows.

\- "Well, if you have to train with them you have to be where they are, Sam."

\- "I guess I really need to think this through, don't I?" –she said rubbing her temples.

\- "Yeah." –I smiled.

\- "Thank you."

\- "For?"

\- "Keeping me on my toes."

\- "You're welcome."

\- "Go take care of Raven. I should stay away from her a little longer."

\- "You know she doesn't really mean it."

\- "I know... But I also know I will remind her of him for some time."

\- "Alright. What are you going to do?"

\- "I'm still going to the Grounder's camp." –she told me as I furrowed my eyebrows- "To check on Clarke, don't worry. I still want to talk about it with you."

\- "You can tell me all about it later, I'll be waiting for you."

\- "Thank you." –she smiled- "Tell Abbie I'm leaving, in case she wants to come, although I'm sure she will. I'll wait for her at the door."

I nodded at her and she moved towards the door as I moved back to check on Raven and talk with Abbie.

\- "Abbie." –I caught her attention- "Sam's going to the Grounders camp to check on Clarke. She is waiting for you at the door."

\- "Thank you, Bellamy."

\- "I'll go with you." –Kane offered.

\- "I want to go too. I want to see him." –Raven said raising from the ground.

I gave Abbie a questioning look before looking back at Raven.

\- "I'll be fine." –Raven spoke to me- "You can't stop me."

\- "Alright, Raven. We'll go together." –Abbie spoke.

I let them pass as I thought about everything that had just happened.  _Clarke killed Finn. Sam was about to leave with the Grounders. Raven is a mess. At Least Lincoln is alright. Octavia!_  I walked towards the medical room to check on them and tell them what had been going on.

**SAM'S POV**

Abbie came with Kane and Raven to the door and the four of us walked towards the Commander's tent. I walked after them, leaving some space in between us not to make Raven more uncomfortable. Once we got there, Raven immediately moved to Finn's body on the ground.

\- "Go with Clarke." –I told Abbie- "I'll take care of her."

Abbie nodded at me and entered the tent. Kane looked at me before following Abbie inside. I was looking at Raven from a distance when Lexa walked past me.

\- "Are you here to talk with me, Sam?"

\- "It may be better if we finish this first, Heda."

\- "Very well." –she nodded and entered her tent.

Indra remained outside looking at me.

\- "How you know what Heda means?" –she finally questioned.

\- "I pay attention when you speak. You only refer with that term to Lexa, so I figured it must be her title in Trigedasleng."

\- "Good."

Nothing about her tone could have meant that she approved, but her body language told me so; or at least I liked to think she approved. After a couple minutes, Lexa came from inside the tent and she left with Indra. Then, Clarke came out and looked at me as if she didn't expect me to be there.

\- "I'm sorry, Clarke."

\- "I had to."

\- "We both know that. I just wish I had done it myself to spare you from it."

\- "I'll be fine."

\- "I know you will, but I also wish you to be fine now." –I gave her a small smile.

She looked behind me and saw Raven.

\- "How's she?"

\- "I think she'll hate us both for some time, but she's strong, she'll get through this, she just needs time to mourn. Just like you do."

\- "I should..."

\- "I'll be here if you need me."

\- "No. Go back to camp and tell Octavia and Bellamy to get ready."

\- "For what now?"

\- "They are going to take Finn's body to the village, for the passing ritual. You should all come with me."

\- "Alright. Can we gear up or...?"

\- "Yeah, after that's done we will discuss how to get into Mount Weather."

\- "Finally."

I approached Clarke and squeezed her shoulders before turning back to camp. As I imagined, the two siblings were with Lincoln, which saved me time from having to look for them all over the place.

\- "Get ready, we're leaving." –I announced entering the room.

\- "Good to see you too, Sam." –Octavia mocked me.

\- "What now?" –Bellamy asked, confused.

\- "There's a ritual for the dead." –Lincoln understood what was going on and spoke.

\- "Yeah." –I confirmed his words- "Clarke wants both of you to come."

\- "Some of the dead were..."

\- "I was counting with you Lincoln, don't worry." –I smiled at him.

\- "We'll wait for you at the entrance." –Octavia agreed taking Lincoln with her.

\- "We can gear up this time, I'm sure you like that." –I smiled at Bellamy.

\- "What are we waiting for then?"

Bellamy and I went to the armory and got a couple weapons for us and some for Clarke and Raven.

\- "What are we doing after the funeral?" –Bellamy suddenly broke the peaceful silence between us.

\- "Clarke told me after that, the truce will be official and we'll be plotting how to get our people back from Mount Weather."

He sighed heavily at my words and I turned to face him.

\- "Why are you always so pessimistic?"

\- "I'm not."

\- "Then why all the sighing. I know you don't like the Grounders but not all of them are bad, just like not all of us are good."

\- "I know that, I just hate all the time we've been wasting."

\- "Well, we didn't exactly have many other options, did we?"

\- "We could have gotten inside. All these politics bullshit is nonsense."

\- "And that's why you are not the one who deals with that stuff." –I laughed.

\- "You think you'd do better than me?" –he raised an eyebrow at me.

\- "Oh no. You know very well I would have run straight into that hell if I had had the chance. I leave the politics to Clarke and dealing with decisions to you. I'm not a leader, remember? A leader can't act by impulse."

\- "You'd be a good one."

\- "Yeah, sure. No offense but a leader can't risk their life for a warrior as much as a warrior does for their leader."

\- "Are you implying I'm your leader and you're my warrior?" –he smirked at me as we got out of the room.

\- "Role play? Count me in, babe." –I winked at him as I moved away.

\- "Pet names? What's next?" –he said catching up with me.

\- "Who knows? We'll discover it along the way." –I smiled before furrowing my eyebrows.

\- "What's wrong? Did I not keep up with the game properly?"

\- "No." –I smiled- "It's just... I feel bad being all cheerful and carefree with you when Clarke and Raven are so heartbroken; it makes me feel like an awful person."

\- "I know how you feel, Sam. I'll stop." –he understood as we got out of the ship and approached the front door.

\- "Let's just play soldiers one more time." –I sighed before seeing Octavia laughing with Lincoln and kissing him- "I mean, it's not like your sister feels as awful as we do." –I chuckled.

\- "That's something I'd rather not have to witness." –Bellamy noted with half a smile on his face.

\- "I think you may have to get used to it." –I poked his side playfully.

\- "I thought we were playing emotionless soldiers now." –he looked at me with a smirk plastered on his face.

\- "Get that smirk off of your face to begin with, then." –I retorted smirking myself.

As we got to the happy couple, the door opened for us and we all moved to where the Grounders where getting ready to leave. Lexa and this Grounder guy called Gustus, who by now I had guessed was her bodyguard, were moving by horse while Finn's body was being carried on a carriage pulled by two horses, Raven sat on it and the rest of us walked. Octavia, Lincoln, Bellamy and I had been walking together after Abbie and Kane. Clarke was walking alone in front of them, following Finn's carriage. By the time the sun was all the way up in the sky, I noticed Bellamy paying less and less attention to what we were talking.

\- "Go." –I whispered to him.

\- "What?"

\- "You've been staring at Clarke almost since we got out of camp and haven't been paying attention to any of us. You're worried about her, go make her company."

\- "Maybe I shouldn't."

\- "Where's the cocky, over-confident Bellamy I know?" –I smiled at him- "You're her co-leader and friend, just go."

\- "Why don't you go?"

\- "He likes you better than she likes me."

\- "That's not true."

\- "Ugh, come on Bellamy. Everyone likes you!" –I pushed him forward- "Go, it's not like we're moving from here anyway."

\- "Fine."

Bellamy walked past Abbie and Kane and started to walk with Clarke.

\- "Aren't you afraid Clarke will steal your boyfriend, Sam?" –Octavia said playfully.

\- "First of all, your brother and I are not a couple."

\- "Yet." –she interrupted me.

\- "Whatever." –I ignored her- "And second of all, if that's what they want, go for it. It's not my place to talk about it."

\- "I don't know who's worse, you or my brother."

\- "What are you talking about now?"

\- "Really?" –she raised her eyebrow at me- "When are you both going to realize you've fallen for each other?"

I felt the heat on my face but still kept eye contact with her.

\- "I don't know what you're talking about."

\- "Sam..."

\- "Of course I like your brother. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

\- "Oh no, I already know it. Lincoln knows too." –she chuckled.

\- "What?!" –I asked surprise.

\- "Octavia sometimes talks about you two and the way you behave. If it weren't for your denials, I'd said you're together."

\- "Bellamy doesn't like me that way." –I was quick to argue.

\- "Sam..."

\- "Wait." –I stopped her raising my hand in front of her- "And even if he did, do you really think this is the right time for us to get together?"

\- "What do you mean?"

\- "With everything that's been going on I feel awful when I'm all happy with Bellamy. Even more now after Finn." –I sighed- "I don't want to walk around sobbing my happiness on everyone else's faces. It's not fair."

\- "I know you're not going to change your mind with what I'm going to say but do you think it's fair for both of you to sabotage your own happiness just because some else isn't as happy as you? Will you risk getting yourself killed without telling him how you really feel?" –Octavia solemnly stated looking at me before glancing at her brothers retreating figure.

\- "O..."

\- "No, don't speak. Just think about it."


	11. Will you ever stop doing this to me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Bellamy talk about the Commander’s offer before arriving at the village. Once the ritual is completed and the feast is about to begin, will a little poison prove to be enough to break the truce when an innocent takes the blame?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mild description of torture.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Hey." –I made myself known to Clarke- "You doing alright?"

\- "Yeah." –she was quick to answer.

\- "You did the right thing." –I said remembering what little Octavia and Lincoln had told me about what Finn had been up for.

\- "And now I get to live with it." -she answered dryly- "You still think this truce is a bad idea, don't you?"

\- "I think we are wasting time with politics while our friends are in trouble." –I almost repeated the words I had spoken to Sam earlier.

\- "We need their army to get to Mount Weather and you know it."

\- "Their army has been getting their ass kicked by Mount Weather forever."- I argued- "What we need is an inside man. Someone to be our eyes and ears."

\- "Forget it, it's too dangerous."

\- "Clarke, if you could make it out I can make it in."

\- "I said no."

\- "Since I don't take orders from you, I'm gonna need a better reason."

\- "I'll give you two." –she looked at me- "I can't lose you too." –she paused as I looked at her.  _Maybe Sam's right_ \- "And do you honestly think Sam wouldn't do something about it?"

\- "About what?"

\- "About you going in; she'll completely oppose."

\- "Good thing I don't take orders from her either."

\- "She'd follow you, Bellamy, even if you were going straight into hell. She's just as stubborn as you are or even more." –she focused her eyes ahead of her again- "We'll get them out."

After that, we didn't interchange another word until we stopped at night to rest and get some sleep. We all camped together, even though it was clear there were two sides: ours and the Grounders; but obviously Sam and Clarke couldn't give it a second thought and they both set their packs closer to the Grounders.

\- "Sam, Clarke." –I started- "It's safer on our side."

\- "We need to trust them, Bellamy." –Clarke was quick to answer- "There are no more sides." –she said and laid down to rest.

\- "If you need protection, Bell, you can stay with me." –Sam chuckled as she squatted down to get her stuff out of her pack.

\- "You're always so quick to joke around and I truly don't mind it but right now..." –I wandered off putting my things with hers.

\- "I know." –she looked up at me- "But we are on our way to get our truce, I'm not asking you to trust them right away, but trust us."

\- "Us?"

\- "Clarke and I." –she explained sitting down looking at the fire, opposite to which was Clarke with her back to us- "She's made a deal with the Commander and I have mine." –she whispered the last part.

\- "You haven't told her?"

\- "No."

\- "Who knows then?"

\- "Well, you obviously." –I looked at her- "Yeah, I still need to explain everything but you count as one so shut up. Obviously, Lincoln and Octavia because I went to ask Lincoln's opinion since he's a Grounder and stuff so it made sense. And Murphy."

\- "Murphy?"

\- "He knew straight away something was up when we went to the dropship and I didn't have a fire weapon."

\- "I see."

\- "He's more perceptive than y'all give him credit for."

\- "If you like him, he has to have something." –I grinned at her and she rolled her eyes- "So..." –I said getting comfortable on the floor next to her- "Tell me about it."

\- "Alright." –she laid down next to me on her stomach, resting her head on her hand- "I feel like I'm repeating myself for the billion time now. So, turns out the Grounders..." –she paused.

\- "What?"

\- "Uh, I never thought about this but you are about to hate this part." -she smiled to herself.

\- "I got the feeling I'm not going to like any of it."

\- "Whatever. The Grounders do know who most of us are, like our abilities and stuff; which, if you think about it for a second and please do, makes sense... they'd want to get the strengths and weaknesses of their potential enemies."

\- "Just because it is logical doesn't mean I feel better about it."

\- "I know, just hear me out."

She gave me a pleading look and I nodded at her, so she continued telling me all about the Commander's offer. She explained to me the reasons why she thought she needed the 'special' training and I understood it all as I saw how her eyes sparkled with the eagerness to learn, to become better; and she wanted to do it all to protect us because she had given herself that job and there was nothing anyone could do to change her mind on that. So I knew that, even if she was saying she was just asking for my opinion, she sounded more like she was asking for my permission, in a way. She wanted to do it and she was going to; regardless of what any of us could think about it, but she was also making sure I knew it before it happened and that I understood why she was doing it.

\- "Honestly, Sam. I'm not even sure why you're checking with me first. You're free to do whatever the hell you want."

\- "Really? Again, Bellamy?" -she sighed rolling her eyes- "I care about you and I don't want me training with the Grounders -that you hate so much- breaking us apart, can't you understand that?" –she furrowed her eyebrows and locked her eyes on the trees in front of her.

\- "Sam..." –I started, sitting up and taking her chin in my hand so that she'd look at me- "There's not a single thing in this world that could make me want to be away from you, I love you and I trust you and I respect you. I know you'll always end up doing whatever the hell you want and I feel honored you're asking for my opinion. I would never ban you from doing what you think is right. If you truly want to do this and you feel like it's the right thing to do then I'm all for it."

She didn't say anything right away but I knew she was processing my words.

\- "Ugh, I love you. You're the best." –she hugged me and I chuckled- "I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now."

\- "It's not like you'd have turned it down if I hadn't agreed."

\- "That's true, but I would have been thinking of you each time and I would have learned nothing and probably just get hurt badly, so thank you."

\- "You're so dramatic."

\- "I am, but the truth is knowing that you're not okay with it while I was at it would have not been ideal. I care about what we have more than I care to admit and more than you know, so just trust me to check on you every damn time something like this comes up."

\- "I'm flattered." –I kissed her forehead- "Now let's get some rest. When was the last time you actually slept?"

\- "Actual sleep? I guess the night you saved my ass."

\- "How are you even standing?"

\- "Well, right now I'm leaning on you so it's pretty easy." –she chuckled against my chest- "But don't lie to me, I'm sure you haven't slept for a while either. It's not like we've been on vacation anyway... I doubt anyone has had a good rest in a long time."

\- "You're probably right." –I agreed lying back down and pulling her with me- "So let's rest as much as we can now."

\- "Like this? My pleasure, man."

I shook my head but I couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto my face. We slept like we did every time we were together: me lying on my back with one arm holding her as she rested her head on my chest and placed one of her hands over my heart. Only this time I intertwined our fingers together.

**SAM'S POV**

The next morning, I woke up and, as I opened my eyes, I realized I had rolled over and was now facing the fire.  _Good thing it extinguished._  I felt Bellamy stretching beside me at the same time I felt a light pressure on my hand; Bellamy's fingers were intertwined with mine and he was squeezing them lightly.

\- "I may need that back." –he declared with a smirk on his face as I faced him.

\- "I could use it too." –I answered quickly equaling his smirk.

\- "Are you always this eager in the morning?"

\- "You tell me."

He laughed lightly and shook his head.

\- "Guys, time to leave." –Octavia came next to us – "Come on!"

\- "I might be eager but she sure as hell is energetic." –I laughed standing up and stretching up my arms.

\- "Why would I want to leave when the view is so good from down here." –Bellamy kept his smirk as he rested his head on his palm.

\- "You've seen me with fewer clothes and better rested so I think you are lacking some good rest yourself."

\- "What a way to ruin the mood, Sam." –he stood up beside me.

\- "The mood is always like this with you." –I winked- "I could never ruin it."

\- "That might be a possibility."

We got our things all packed up again and, after walking for another hour or so, we arrived at the village. I tensed as I remembered the last time I was here.  _Maybe me coming was not that good of an idea._  Lexa and Gustus got down from their horses and he came to us with another Grounder with a bucket.

\- "Weapons." –he ordered looking at us and focusing his gaze on me.

_Not awkward or uncomfortable at all, alright. Good._

\- "We need to disarm before we enter." –Lincoln was quick to explain as he handed his weapons.

After all of us had handed in our weapons and Raven was stripped of hers, we entered the village following Lexa, Indra, and Gustus. Clarke was the first after them, followed by Kane, Abbie, and Bellamy as I stayed behind; Octavia and Lincoln probably realized what I was thinking and both gave me light smiles of reassurance. Soon enough, the people of the village started screaming in Tringeslagen; I understood the word 'Heda' and I knew they were welcoming her. After a couple seconds, and probably after we were seen, the tones became more aggressive and hostile, most definitely threats against us.  _We love a warm welcome over here._  Eventually, a Grounder stood in front of Lexa and spoke to her, stopping her from walking her way. Lexa made a sign to Gustus and he knocked the Grounder with a simple strike to the chin, then he pinned him to the ground and started punching him repeatedly until he started bleeding. I looked at Lincoln but he shook his head, as if knowing what I was thinking, so I remained still.

\- "Commander, stop him. Please." –Clarke pleaded moving next to her- "They'll blame us for this too."

Lexa looked at her and then spoke, and Gustus immediately stopped.

\- "The Sky People march with us now. Anyone who tries to stop that will pay with their life."

Lexa informed the Grounders, or more so threatened, and kept marching; no one dared to say a thing. We arrived at the center of the village and there was already a pile prepared with the bodies of the innocent killed under it. Finn's body was placed over it and, once everything was ready, Lexa spoke in their language, luckily Lincoln translated for us.

\- "People of Tondc. In fire we cleanse the pain of the past."

Lexa was then handed a torch to set the fire but she stopped and looked over at us. I made eye contact with her and then I looked at Clarke before looking back down.

\- "Clarke."

I raised my eyes to see Lexa handing in the torch to Clarke. The Grounders seemed impatient, as if they didn't like Lexa's gesture, but she didn't seem to care. Clarke approached Lexa, took the torch and looked at the pile before very slowly approaching the fire to the branches that started burning immediately.

\- "Yu gonplei ste odon." –Clarke recited before starting the fire.

And with that, it was done. We stood there for quite a while but eventually, everyone started to leave. Clarke stood with Lexa until the fire stopped as we looked from afar. I watched Raven sat on the ground wiping away her tears and all I wanted to do was hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but it wasn't. After Lexa and Clarke finished talking, we were taken to a massive room to lunch together, so that the truce would commence. Octavia and Lincoln had sat at the end of the table and I moved to sit next to Octavia. Clarke was to be sat in front of Lexa so Abbie stood to her left and next to me. Bellamy sat on Clarke's right next to Kane and then Raven at the other end of the table.

\- "Please." –Kane spoke- "Accept this gift, Commander. We drink this on special occasions; I believe this qualifies." –he handed her a bottle with, I assumed, some type of alcohol.

Lexa nodded and Gustus took it and handed it to Lexa.

\- "Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People."

\- "You're welcome, Lexa Kom Trikru." –he pronounced as best as he could- "Just don't drink too much of it." –he added.

\- "Clarke, let us drink together." –Lexa faced her.

\- "It would be my pleasure."

Lexa served the liquid in two different glasses and handed one to Clarke.

\- "Heda." –Gustus spoke- "Allow me."

Lexa handed him her cup and he took a sip, I guessed to check if it was poisoned which was utterly stupid to think since Clarke was drinking too, but I wasn't about to complain, so I just rolled my eyes. Since nothing happened, he handed her back the cup and Lexa spoke.

\- "Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace. Tomorrow, we plan our war."

_Finally._

\- "To those we've lost." –Lexa raised her glass- "And to those we shall soon find."

Lexa and Clarke were both about to drink when Gustus fell over the table and started coughing. He then looked over at us and fell back on the ground.

\- "Poison." –he said.

\- "What the fuck?" –I spoke looking at the scene before me.

Abbie was fast to push Clarke's glass away from her and threw it to the ground.

\- "It was the Sky People." –Indra screamed taking out her sword.

The Grounders moved the table away to get to us.

\- "It wasn't us." –Clarke yelled- "You have to know it wasn't us."

Lexa screamed to Nyko in their language, as I moved to where Clarke and Bellamy were standing.

\- "Can we stop to think for a second?"

Indra looked at me with fire in her eyes and screamed to her people. Some started to leave the room and others to approach us.

\- "Why would we give poison to Lexa if Clarke was going to drink too? Indra, listen to me, it makes no sense." –I tried to reason, facing her.

She was too mad by now to even care for my words as her guards started searching us.

\- "We didn't do this." –Clarke told Lexa.

\- "Gustus warned me about you but I didn't listen."

\- "Lexa, please."

\- "Tell me something, Clarke." –Lexa faced her- "When you plunged the knife into the heart of the boy you loved did you not with that it was mine?"

Clarke didn't answer.

\- "Heda." –A grounder called, showing her a vial from Raven's backpack.

\- "That's not mine." –Raven was quick to answer.

The Grounder gave it to Lexa.

\- "I'm telling you ,that's not mine... he put it there when he searched me."

\- "No Sky Person leaves this room." –Lexa yelled.

With that, she and all other Grounders left.

**CLARKE'S POV**

\- "Do something." –Octavia tells Lincoln.

\- "Indra."

Lincoln speaks to her in their language and points at us. Indra answers him and closes the door after her.  _Yeah, that may not work._  After a while in there, we all separated. Kane and my mom started to think of something to do to get us out, Lincoln and Octavia were talking on a corner of the room, Bellamy was looking through the walls to see if we could make it out through one of them, Sam was sat on the table thinking, and Raven was going through her pack.  _Maybe..._

\- "Raven." –I approach her- "I need to know the truth."

\- "I'd step back if I was you."

\- "You wanted me to kill Lexa yesterday. If you tried to poison her, I need to know."

Next thing I know, my face hurts and my nose is bleeding: Raven hit me. Sam is the first to come to us and looks at me worried.

\- "You're the only murderer here." –Raven tells me as I look up at her again.

\- "Raven." –Sam speaks- "We all are."

I see Finn on the other side of the room and I zoom out.

\- "Leave me alone." –I speak- "You gave me no choice. Why did you turn yourself in?"

I stop seeing him and I realize everyone's looking at me now.

\- "Baby." –my mom speaks.

She tries to reach me but I move out.  _This is starting to become a problem._

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After what just happened, we are all even more concerned about Clarke than we probably were before. Octavia and Lincoln sat back together as Clarke and her mom spoke about their issues on the other side of the room. Kane moved to Raven and me, as Sam watched over us from the opposite wall.

\- "Raven, we need to know."

\- "You too think it was me? Do you all think it really was me?" –Raven screamed.

\- "No." –Sam spoke calmly from the other side.

\- "You..." –Raven looked at her, her voice full of anger.

\- "I know you don't like me much right now." –Sam started, approaching us slowly- "But I know you're not that stupid, Raven. If you had poisoned Lexa, or tried to, you wouldn't have kept the vial with you where anyone could easily find it. You may be angry, but even now you're still more intelligent than most of us, even when we are trying our best."

Raven's look was now a little softer than before but Sam still kept her distance.

\- "Who would want Lexa dead?" –Kane asked.

\- "Too many to count." –Lincoln answered- "Forming an alliance with you was a risk, especially after what happened here."

\- "So, it had to be someone trying to break the alliance." –Octavia concluded.

At that moment, the doors opened and Niko entered followed by Indra and a couple more Grounders. Lincoln pushed Octavia behind him and I pushed her behind me too as Sam moved in front of Raven. Clarke and Abbie stood up and came with us.

\- "How's Gustus?" –Lincoln asked.

\- "Gustus will live." –Nyko answered.

Indra said something in their language as Lincoln started to ask what was going on when the two Grounders moved towards Raven.

\- "She didn't poison anyone." –I told her.

\- "I argued for all of you to die." –Indra spoke- "But the Commander is merciful. She wants only one."

\- "She's innocent." –Lincoln spoke.

\- "I don't care." –Indra came to face us- "They move, they bleed."

The Grounders took Raven and started to take her to the door. Sam took my face in her hands and gave me a kiss in the corner of my lips. I stood still, in shock, not understanding anything as she whispered 'I love you' in my ear.

\- "Wait." –Sam moved away from me and stood in front of Indra- "You said Lexa wants only one of us because she is merciful."

\- "Lucky for you."

\- "Alright." –she took a deep breath- "Leave Raven, she's innocent."

\- "I'm not..."

\- "I haven't finished, Indra." –Sam challenged her- "You want one of us. Take me."

She placed her hands together in front of her.  _And now I understood._

\- "Sam, no." –I yelled as Kane forced me back.

\- "You only need one..." –Sam ignored me- "...and I'm offering myself. I won't resist, I'll even admit it was me if you leave them alone."

Indra looked at the guards and nodded at them. They let Raven go and Octavia hugged her as the guards moved towards Sam.

\- "You have such potential and you're throwing it away because you lack survival instinct." –Indra looked at Sam disappointed.

\- "You're wrong. I do have the impulse to run away, I just choose to ignore it and save those who deserve to live." –Sam glanced at Raven before turning back to Indra- "Same way you would throw yourself in front of Lexa if she were in danger."

\- "Sam, please no." –Raven tried to move after her but the guards stopped her.

\- "It's done." –Indra said looking at her and leaving no room for discussion.

As she promised, Sam didn't oppose as one of the guards pushed her somewhat carefully to the exit, which was weird, considering how they have taken Raven the first time.

\- "The rest of you are free." –Indra moved towards the door but then stopped and turned around- "When Samantha is dead, so is the alliance. You should run."

\- "Wao, the faith of me not dying immediately is overwhelming." –I heard Sam say from behind the guards who were now pushing her upstairs- "Thank you, Indra."

Once they were out, Raven collapsed on the ground and started crying.

\- "She's saved me even though all I have done is blame her for Finn's death. She thought I hated her and even then, she is giving her life for me." –she mumbled in between sobs.

\- "There must be something we can do." –Clarke spoke- "We all know it wasn't us."

\- "What are they going to do to her?" –Octavia asked Lincoln.

\- "Death by cuts. Each person on the village will have their time with a knife to cut her as much and as deep as they want. Once that's done, Lexa will put her sword through her heart, if she survives that long."

\- "She can't die just like this!"

\- "Bellamy..."

\- "No. She's always so ready to die for us, we should be doing the same. I'm not losing her. I'll take the blame for her."

I stormed outside the room. Once I was outside, I followed the noise until I found everyone. I was paralyzed the moment I saw her: Sam had been tied up to a post with her hands above her head, restraining her from making any move; the Grounders were surrounding her as Indra stood on one side and Lexa and Gustus in front of her. She didn't look afraid and I was glad because I don't think I could have handled that. The rest came after me and Octavia hugged me, as tears filled both our eyes and rage ran wild through our hearts.

\- "I take no joy in this, Samantha." –Lexa approached her- "But this time, justice will be done."

\- "You know it wasn't us, and I seriously hope that, once you figure it out, you'll honor my death by saving the family I have left inside Mount Weather."

\- "You'd have made the greatest warrior and leader for your people, Sam."

\- "I'm no leader, Lexa, or we wouldn't be here."

Lexa nodded and rose her knife to Sam's arm, cutting her. The cut wasn't deep or long and none of them broke eye contact.

\- "We have to do something." –I growled, getting rid of Octavia and pushing through the crowd as I felt the panic running through my veins.

\- "There's nothing we can do." –Kane stopped me, again- "You'll only get us all killed."

\- "Lincoln. Talk to them, please." –Octavia begged as Lincoln held her in his arms- "Sam can't die like this."

Lexa moved away from Sam and Indra moved up to her.

\- "I do take joy in this, although I hope it wasn't you."

Indra raised Sam's t-shirt and cut through her stomach, slower and longer than Lexa. Sam closed her eyes, clenched her jaw and her fits above her head.

\- "You can talk to them, these are your people." –Octavia tried to get rid of Lincoln.

\- "Not anymore."

\- "You're no longer safe here, my friend. I'll do my best to make sure you get away. Then, you'll be on your own." –Nyko told Lincoln and looked at Octavia- "I'm sorry it is her. I may not know her but I was there when she tried to save my people and for that, I'll always be grateful."

\- "Then do something!" –Octavia yelled- "Sam's my family. It's not her fault she's dumb enough to try to save everyone but herself."

\- "She'll give you as much time as she can to leave and get as far as possible, she promised. Once she's dead, you'll all be in danger here. You have to leave, now."

Abbie left us to go look for Clarke and Lincoln took Octavia in his arms, ready to get her out of here while Kane pushed me back.

\- "I'm not leaving without her." –I got rid of him and moved back towards the crowd.

\- "Bellamy Blake." –Kane called after me- "You'll get yourself killed."

\- "If she dies, I'm as good as dead."

 _Why can you stop being dumb reckless, Sam? Do I have to tie you up to me so you'll stop and stay fucking safe for once?_  I sighed trying to clear my mind.  _Alright, there has to be a way. It wasn't us. Bellamy, think, you can't let her die._ Sam had just let out a painful scream as the cuts got deeper.  _Gustus took a sip from Lexa's cup. But we didn't poison the liquid._  Then it hit me.  _Ugh, the stupid cup._  I turned around only to almost crash with Clarke.

\- "I know how to save, Sam." –we spoke at the same time- "The cup."

Clarke ran up to Lexa as I asked Nyko for the bottle.

\- "Stop." –Clarke yelled as another Grounder got ready to cut Sam's leg.

\- "Let her pass." –Lexa ordered to the guards.

\- "It wasn't us and we can prove it." –I spoke unable to contain myself.

\- "One of your people tried to kill you, Lexa." –Clarke continued.

\- "You should have run." –Indra faced us.

\- "I can prove it."

I took the bottle from Nyko and drank from it. Nothing happened as we expected.

\- "Explain." –Lexa commanded.

\- "The poison wasn't in the bottle." –I simply stated.

\- "It was in your cup." –Clarke developed as they didn't seem to fully understand.

Gustus whispered something to Lexa. And then, it hit me.

\- "It was you." –I confronted him- "He tested the cup, he searched Raven."

\- "Gustus would never harm me."

\- "You weren't the target." –I explained- "The alliance was."

\- "We didn't do this, and you know it."

Lexa turned to face Gustus and spoke in their language. Gustus looked at me, at Clarke and then at Sam before facing Lexa again.

\- "This alliance would cost you your life, Heda." –he confessed- "I could not let that happen."

\- "This treachery will cost you yours." –Lexa's voice was almost a whisper.

She then spoke in their language. Guards surrounded Gustus and I took that as my cue to get Sam. I ran up to her. She was covered in blood with her eyes closed but still alive.

\- "Sam, Sam. I'm here, love." –I cupped her face with my hands- "Will you ever stop doing this to me?"

\- "Bell." –she coughed- "I'm sorry I dropped your blood all over the ground." –she whispered.

\- "You're so fucking stupid, Sam." –I kissed her forehead.

By now Abbie and Kane were next to us, cutting the ropes that were keeping Sam still and, as soon as they were loose, she started to collapse, but I quickly took her in my arms.

\- "I need to start taking care of some of the deeper cuts." –Abbie informed me as she moved for the med kid she always carried with her- "Keep her still and don't touch her wounds." –she ordered me.

I took her to one side of the plaza at sat down laying her next to me, with her head on my lap. Octavia, Lincoln, and Raven were soon with us.

\- "Ugh, Sam. I swear I only want to kill you right now. You need to stop being so fucking dumb." –Octavia spoke with tears in her eyes- "I don't... I can't lose you, you idiot, you're my family. Think twice before acting alright!"

\- "I love you too, O." –Sam smiled still eyes closed.

\- "Ugh, I hate you." –Octavia smiled a bit- "I'd give you a hug but Abbie said not to touch you."

\- "You sure are someone to keep an eye on, Sam." –Lincoln spoke next- "I'm glad you're still alive, Octavia was losing it. Bellamy too." –he ended as I gave him a look.

\- "I'm sure you'd have taken good care of her."

\- "Losing a sister, a loved one is not something easy to get over, Sam. I hope you know that."

\- "Sam..." –Raven whispered- "I... I don't know what to say."

\- "It's fine, Raven. You've suffered enough already, I'm just glad you're okay."

\- "No. It's not." –Raven shook her head- "Even after how bad I've treated you lately, you stepped up for me and risked dying for me."

\- "Raven, it's fine. I'd do it again."

\- "You saved me, Sam." –Raven said tearing up- "I'm sorry for being such a horrible friend." –she faced towards where Sam had been tied a couple minutes ago and where Gustus was now- "That's what would have happened to Finn, right?"

She asked but the three of us knew she didn't need confirmation.

\- "Thank you, Sam. For everything."


	12. So close.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the truce holds after everything that happened at Tondc, our delinquents come across some bittersweet news. Someone will soon have to risk it all for the team and others will have to prove their value.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Is it that bad?" –Sam asked me after we were left alone.

\- "You are bleeding from at least 10 different places."

\- "That doesn't really answer my question, you know?"

\- "Is not as bad as last time I had to take care of you."

\- "Then we are good."

\- "You have an interesting concept of 'being good'."

\- "We're alive and the truce is still holding. I'd say we are better than a couple days ago."

\- "Maybe we are." –I stroke her cheek- "But you almost died, again." –I emphasized the last word.

\- "I could have taken a couple more before I passed out, have a little faith."

\- "I'm not joking, Sam. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I almost lost my mind the last time and seeing you all tied up..." –I sighed- "Your selflessness is one of the things that I like most about you but I'd appreciate it if you could just stop trying to get killed and were a little more selfish."

\- "Have you forgotten one of the first things I ever told you?"

I shook my head in denial but then I remembered she had her eyes closed and forced myself to speak.

\- "What was it?"

\- "I speak too much and act too soon."

\- "Yeah." –I smiled remembering that day- "Then, you told me O had gotten hurt because of you and I don't think I've ever gone so fast from being so interest in someone to wanting to kill them."

\- "Huh." –she grinned- "So you were interested in me back then? Who'd have guessed."

\- "You may not be aware of it, but pretty much everyone at camp was interested on you in some way, you were a mystery."

\- "Now, that I highly doubt."

\- "By then most people knew you had risked your life for a couple of us. Some of them wanted to be more like you and others tried to avoid you as much as possible." –I laughed- "I'd say most of them were kinda scared of you."

\- "I think you're getting confused here, Blake." –she laughed- "Everyone was afraid to even go near you Mr. 'whatever the hell we want'."

\- "You sure took my rule to heart."

\- "Yeah, that's the only rule I ever follow, feel free to brag it's yours."

Before I could ask her about the kiss, Abbie came to us and started taking care of the wounds.  _Maybe it didn't mean anything, it's not like she kissed me on the lips anyway... maybe she was going for my cheek but I moved._  

\- "Can you walk?" –Kane asked Sam once Abbie was done.

I helped her stand up, the majority of the cuts had been on her upper body, but someone had given her a rough and long cut on her left thigh.

\- "Yeah... but no one get in trouble again, I'm getting tired of this." –Sam smiled.

Once we had set camp for the night, we made a fire and we all sat around it. As we talked, I noticed Sam closing her eyes and resting her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her, kissed her forehead and she soon fell asleep.

\- "How did you know it was Gustus?" –Lincoln asked me.

\- "He'd do anything for her." –I stated glancing at Sam and then back at Lincoln- "To protect her. It just made sense."

\- "Sounds a lot like you both."

Octavia looked at her and then smiled up at me.

\- "Guys!" –Raven yelled for us as she came running to where we were.

\- "Shh, Sam's asleep." –I reproached her- "What is it?"

\- "I'm sorry, but you have to listen to this."

\- "Forty-seven of us are trapped inside Mount Weather. They've taken Harper." –a radio played Jasper's voice with a message.

\- "Talk to him." –Clarke demanded- "Say something!"

\- "It's repeating." –Raven explained.

\- "They're alive." –Octavia sounded surprised.

\- "We need to do this now." –I carefully lowered Sam on the ground and rose up to talk with Clarke - "We've got the alliance, now's the time to use it."

\- "First we need an inside man." –she looked at me- "You were right, without someone on the inside to lower their defenses, turn off the acid fog... an army is useless. You should go."

\- "I thought you hated that plan." –I reminded her- "That I'd get myself killed."

\- "I was being weak." –she spoke- "It's worth the risk. My map of Mount Weather." –Clarke handed it to me- "Find a way to get on that radio and talk to us. Good luck."

With that, she left back with Lexa.

\- "Bell, how are you...?" –Octavia started.

\- "I can get you through the tunnels." –Lincoln cut her off.

\- "You can't go back there. Not yet." –Octavia faced Lincoln.

\- "Let me show you what to look for." –Raven told me as she moved to her tent.

I looked down at Sam, who was still sleeping and therefore had not heard a thing.  _It's probably for the best; she'll stay here safe this time, even if I have to die to make sure she survives._

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

After I talked with Lincoln and he left to get ready, I realized Sam hadn't heard anything and was still asleep. _I can't believe he is really going to leave without talking with her. It's like I have to do all the work around here._  I sighed and moved towards Sam.

\- "Sam..." –I whispered softly as I touched her face- "I need you to wake up."

I didn't want to be too brusque with her but I knew she needed to wake up.

\- "Sam, please. There's important stuff going on."

Sam groaned after I pushed her a couple times and slowly opened her eyes.

\- "Someone better be in real danger because I was really digging that rest, O." –she smiled as her eyes focused on me.

\- "Raven intercepted a message from Mount Weather. It was Jasper's."

\- "What?" –she softly yelled sitting up- "Why did no one wake me up immediately."

\- "Because that's the only good news."

\- "Well, those are some damn good news, the bad can't be that bad, can they?"

\- "Clarke is sending Bellamy as her inside man; she said it's worth the risk. Lincoln offered to go with him."

\- "I knew she'll lose it eventually." –Sam stood up slowly reminiscing what she told Clarke when she came back from talking with the Commander- "I'll go. Lincoln can't go back there yet."

\- "I don't want to burst your bubble, Sam, but you're too weak."

\- "When are they leaving?"

\- "Now."

\- "What do you mean now?" –she looked at me and then rolled her eyes as she understood- "Really? Where is he?"

I walked with Sam to where Lincoln and Bellamy were finalizing their disguises; Bellamy had his back to us and Lincoln was the first to see us, he hugged Sam first and then came with me as we left Bellamy and Sam alone.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Sam... What are you doing awake, you need to rest."

\- "So, you really were about to leave on a suicide mission without telling me, huh?" –she crossed her arms over her chest– "Wait a minute." -she paused for a second as her eyes widened- "You've become me." –she spoke as the parallel of our situations occurred to her- "So this is how you've been feeling all this time?"

\- "I wanna say yes." –I smiled a bit.

\- "You truly have a lot of patience, my friend. I was ready to kick the shit out of you; I don't know how you contain yourself."

\- "Me neither." –I grinned and walked up to her- "So, I guess O woke you up and told you what's going on."

\- "Yeah."

\- "And?"

\- "Why didn't you wake me up? You can't go straight into hell and leave me here wondering..."

\- "Because I know you, Sam." –I stopped her- "You can't come with me, I have to do this on my own."

\- "I wish I had more time to think of a way for you to stay." –she looked at the ground.

\- "What...?"

\- "You told me you wanted me to be less impulsive and more selfish." –she rose her eyes and looked at me- "This is me being selfish: I want you to stay with me; I want to save them as much as everyone else but I admit I want you more than that."

\- "I guess this is my time to act impulsively and truly be more like you." –I smiled softly at her.

\- "I'll go with you." –she insisted.

\- "No." –I firmly stated- "You've already risked too much for us. Let me do it now, let me be the warrior now."

\- "You know? I don't like this new dynamic you're proposing."

\- "I do because for once I know that you are gonna be safe. For once, it is me getting in trouble and not you. There's nothing I want more in this world than to keep you safe." –I confessed.

\- "I hate you so much right this second." –she blushed and I knew I had succeeded- "Just because you're making a little sense, because I know I'd only be a burden to you now, doesn't mean I like this plan and I'm going to make sure Clarke understands that losing you is not 'worth the risk'." –she air-quoted Clarke's words.

\- "It is."

\- "In what universe are you to even say that." –she raised her eyebrow at me.

\- "Sam, one life in exchange for forty-seven is always worth the risk."

\- "Not this time, Bellamy." –she firmly stated- "Not if it's yours."

\- "Sam..."

\- "No. Listen, I need to tell you something before you leave."

\- "Don't." –I stopped her placing a finger over her lips.

\- "Why?" –she asked catching my hand in hers- "You don't even know what I'm going to say."

\- "Because if we start this, I'll say things and I'll stay with you." –I confessed- "And we both know that's not fair for Jasper and the others."

She looked up at me, and for a moment I regretted stopping her. I wasn't even sure we were talking about the same thing here but I wasn't ready to hear it nor to get my heart broken. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her body, not too tightly because I was sure she was still in pain but tightly enough to feel her trembling in my arms.

\- "Promise me you'll come back, Bellamy." –she spoke against my chest.

\- "You know I can't do that." –I tried to hid the sadness in my voice as I stroke her hair while she moved her head to rest it on my shoulder.

\- "I swear to the Gods if you don't come back to me or I don't hear from you soon enough, I'll go inside Mount Weather myself and then I will truly kick your ass, Blake."

\- "Promise me you won't risk your life while I'm gone."

\- "What could I possibly do that's more dangerous than what you're about to do, huh?" –she asked, one of her hands resting on the side of my neck and the other drawing figures on my back.

\- "What you just described, to begin with." –I chuckled softly.

\- "Then promise me you'll do your best to come back to me."

\- "I promise you that's the only thing I'll be thinking about as soon as I get to our people. I'll try my best to come back." –I paused for a moment- "To come back to you."

\- "I think I can do with that."

We stood like that, in peaceful silence, until I saw Lincoln and Octavia approaching us.

\- "It's time, Sam."

She tightened her grip around me before sighing into my neck and letting go. I held her hands in mine and looked at her eyes.

\- "You're not kissing me and leaving, Blake." –she smiled but her eyes remained sad.

\- "You know that's basically what you did back at the village, right?"

\- "Did my lips touch yours? I don't recall that and I'm pretty sure I didn't lose that much blood this time." –she smirked- "Besides, that's not how I roll."

\- "I can't wait to know how you like to do things, love."

She blushed and buried her face on my neck before kissing me there and moving back to look into my eyes.

\- "Come back to me, Blake."

I cupped her face with my hands and stroke her cheeks with my thumbs and she closed her eyes, smiling into my touch. I mimicked the kiss she gave me back in Tomdc, kissing the corner of her lips.

\- "Don't miss me too much."

\- "Whatever Blake..." –she smirked- "Don't be so full of yourself."

\- "You love it."

\- "Not necessarily." –she smiled- "But I do love you, Bell."

\- "I love you, Sam."

And, for some reason, I felt those words meant something else, this time, something more. Lincoln hugged Sam goodbye and we were on our way. Leaving that night was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I didn't look back because all I wanted to do was held Sam and keep her safe in my arms, but right now, I needed to be a warrior. For our friends. For her.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

Lincoln and I moved back to where we had left Sam and Bellamy. They were hugging and I was afraid we may have broken the magic of the moment, but none of them seemed to care.  _Did it happen already? Did I miss it?_  I couldn't contain my emotions from probably showing as Lincoln chuckled beside me.

\- "What?"

\- "I think you're more excited about them getting together than they are themselves."

\- "That's because they are both equally stupid when it comes to the other's feelings."

I kissed Lincoln goodbye and he moved towards them; he hugged Sam goodbye and he and Bellamy walked away, not looking back as Sam made her way towards me.

\- "So... since I didn't see a goodbye kiss I'm going to assume none of you confessed."

\- "I was so close, O." –Sam gave a sad smile.

\- "What happened?"

\- "He asked me not to. I don't know why because he couldn't have known where I was going ..."

\- "Why?" –I cut her- "I mean why did he stop you."

\- "He said he'd stay if I kept talking."

\- "It's happening!" –I almost screamed.

\- "What's happening?" –Sam started looking around her, adopting a defense position.

\- "You idiot!" -I laughed and she relaxed her posture- "Bellamy finally, and I mean finally, realized you are just as in love with him as he's with you."

\- "If only that were true."

\- "What do you mean?"

\- "Listen, O. Right now, I don't even care if he's in love with me or if we are just friends, I just want him back safe." –she hugged herself.

\- "I'm sure he'll come back to you." –I hugged her.

\- "I'm sure Lincoln will come back to you." –she hugged me back.

Once we were back in camp, Sam and I chose to bunk together like we used to.  _I've missed this._  The Commander had sent Indra and a couple dozens of their warriors to train together with us.

\- "Looks like you are actually going to train with them after all." –I told Sam as I got ready the next morning.

\- "Best thing about this is we'll do it together like we used to." –she said avoiding Lincoln's name.

\- "Yeah, and this time I'll win you each time we spar together."

\- "As long as it's together, I don't care." –she laughed.

Once we were both dressed and geared up, we headed towards the room where Kane had decided to have a meeting between us and the Grounders. Sam and I stood together next to a wall with guards around us. As Indra entered the room, people started to whisper and Sam straightened herself out of respect for her, so I did the same.

\- "Alright, quiet down." –Kane said coming in- "Indra, please." –he motioned to the middle of the room.

Indra moved following Kane's directions; her presence was intimidating and we were soon reminded about it.

\- "Don't worry." –a guard beside me told us- "My shock baton's got both your backs."

\- "How about you stick it up your ass instead?"

I was quick to answer and Sam started laughing loudly, making me smile. Kane shot us a look and Sam quickly tried to compose herself.

\- "I know we don't have a lot in common." –Kane began- "But we do have a common enemy and a common goal. And for us to reach it, to get our people out of Mount Weather we need to work together." –he looked at Indra- "Ogeda, Skaikru en Trikru. Our survival depends on sharing our knowledge to defeat Mount Weather."

Suddenly, Murphy pushed a Grounder back as he stood up, as if they were ready to get into a fight.

\- "Mr. Murphy." –Kane called- "Apologize to that man."

\- "For what? He was the one who came at me."

\- "Two days' work detail."

\- "Work detail? I just told you I didn't do anything!"

\- "Care to make it three?"

Sam had moved forward and was watching everything carefully as Murphy contemplated what to do next. He shook his head and started to move away from the Grounder when he spoke.

\- "You're gonna burn just like your friend." -then, the Grounder looked at Sam- "Then we'll get your girlfriend."

And it was done. Murphy punched the guy in the face and he punched him back. Kane started yelling for Murphy to stop but it was too late now: Grounders moved to help his man while Sam and some guards helped Murphy, I tried to help too by pushing people away from the fight. It took a good 10 minutes to break the fight off. Kane took Murphy away as Indra took care of her men. The first Grounder looked at Sam and moved threateningly towards her, but she didn't flinch.

\- "You're next."

\- "I'm not afraid of you."

\- "Enough." –Indra ordered from the other side of the room.

The Grounder looked at her before glancing back at Sam and nodding. They all exited the room.

\- "This just got so much more interesting." –Sam commented as we both moved towards the exit.

\- "He's coming for you, Sam."

\- "Then, he'll find me."

I looked at her, concerned.

\- "I know he's much bigger and stronger than me but I'm not giving him the satisfaction of backing down, O. We'll train and then I'll get him. Just give it some time."

\- "That's a much better plan than going straight up to him as soon as you get the opportunity."

\- "I'm going to check on Murphy, I'll see you later, alright?"

I nodded at her and we went different ways through the ship.

**SAM'S POV**

I wanted to check on Murphy because he was my friend and I was worried. He was the only one I had on the ship still, besides Octavia and Raven who had kind of banished as soon as we made it back. I finally found him in a room, wiping the floors.

\- "Well, now this is a sight I never thought I'd come to witness." –I chuckled sitting on a table.

\- "Came here to have a laugh, Sam?" –he smirked at me.

\- "I came to check on you."

\- "I'm fine."

\- "You don't seem to be 'fine'. Care to talk to your bff?"

\- "Let me know when that person arrives."

\- "How dare you." –I crossed my arms over my chest, making my best to try to sound hurt.

\- "Oh, there she is." –he let the mop down and came to sit next to me- "I'm kidding, of course you are my 'bff', I have no other friends." –he said making 'air-quotes.

\- "I won't even fake I'm offended by your implications."

\- "What implications?"

\- "That I wouldn't be if you had more friends." –I smiled- "I'm joking, M." –I added seeing the hurt look on his face- "I don't need to put a tag to us." –I laughed- "But I didn't come here to name names."

\- "Then?"

\- "That Grounder was an ass."

\- "Oh, so you came here to talk shit?"

\- "We can do that if you want, I don't have anything else to do."

\- "Don't you have to go train?"

\- "I take you don't like this plan by your tone."

\- "I couldn't care less about the Grounders."

\- "We have to live with them, M. One way or another."

\- "I mean, we can't go back to space, can we?"

\- "Would you go back?"

\- "If it meant living without all the Chancellors, the Grounders and both their stupid rules then why not?"

\- "I mean, the view was nice." –I laughed.

Someone clearing their throat behind us made Murphy jump from his place and take the mop again as I turned around.  _Jaha, great._

\- "Jaha." –I acknowledged him.

\- "Samantha Besnik, always a pleasure."

\- "I truly doubt it." –I dryly said- "I take you came to talk with Murphy." –he nodded and I turned to face Murphy- "I'll see you later then."

Murphy gave me a small smile in return and a simple nod.  _I'm not sure if I like leaving Jaha alone with Murphy, who knows what he is thinking of now that he is not Chancellor any more._  I sighed and made a mental note to check on Murphy later that day.


	13. Surrender is not in my nature.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone on Arkadia is training, just not necessarily in the way Kane had envisioned; everyone is doing their thing: Grounders with Grounders and Sky People with Sky People. Not to worry though, cause someone is always here to save the day and show what they are capable of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: description of bloody fight.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

By mid-day, everyone in camp was training, although not as a team: the Grounders were doing their sparring thing together while the guard trained with guns. Sam and I were watching the Grounders fight, trying to learn something out of it.

\- "Impressive." –Kane spoke moving next to us.

\- "I don't think there's a strong enough word in English to express how amazing this is, but impressive may be just close enough." –Sam agreed following with her eyes their every move.

\- "What doesn't kill them, makes them stronger." –Kane added.

I remained silent, only one idea in my head.  _Getting stronger. Whatever I have to do._  I had promised Lincoln I wouldn't let this truce fail and I was ready to fight for it, and knowing Sam was all in with me made things a little easier. I looked at her and gave her my sword as Indra asked who was next.

\- "Sure?" –she simply asked, as if she could read my mind.

\- "I want to do this."

\- "I got your back if they try anything." –she reassured me, taking my sword.

\- "I am." –I moved next to Indra- "We're supposed to train together."

\- "Only warriors train here."

\- "I saved your life." –I argued in disbelief.

\- "And now I'm saving yours."

Indra ended and moved away from me as I caught Sam's eyes and she came to me.

\- "What she say?"

\- "Only warriors train here." –I repeated Indra's words.

\- "We might need to show her we are as much of a warrior as they are."

\- "You might be right."

\- "Why don't we practice with guns until we figure it out? It's been a while since I've used one."

\- "Bell taught you well, I'm sure you remember." –I smiled but then I realized what I'd said- "Sorry."

\- "Don't be. If anyone can survive that hell, it's our guys." –she smiled at me- "Besides, we are here to train, O."

She moved towards where two guards were training with guns while Kane looked over them. Kane, unaware of our training, thought Sam wouldn't be of any help with a gun. She approached him while I sat down to sharpen my sword.

\- "Have you ever shoot a fire weapon before?" –he asked her as she approached him.

\- "A couple times maybe." –Sam took the rifle from one of the guards.

The other one kept trying to hit the target but kept on failing. Grounders were now looking at us with funny faces as Sam positioned herself beside him.

\- "Sir, we got an audience." –a guard warned Kane.

\- "I love a good audience, don't you?"

\- "Hold your fire."

Kane ordered and the guard stopped shooting while Sam turned around, eyebrows raised in annoyance at Kane. He moved after her and took her rifle, decided to show the Grounders how it was done.

\- "Allow me." –he said pushing her out of the way- "Keep a solid stance. Observe."

He then proceeded to shoot the targets without failing one. As he was about to turn around to face the Grounders, Sam took the other guard's rifle and shoot right after Kane finished, not missing a target either.  _Bellamy would be proud._  I smiled to myself as Kane looked at her, incredulous.

\- "It's possible that I'm a fast learner." –she handed him the rifle- "It's also possible you're all undermining us."

Sam turned around to leave, as the Grounders moved to let her pass. One of them was the one who had got into a fight with Murphy; he was observing Sam with a look I wasn't sure how to depict, it was like a mixture of fear, respect, and eagerness.

\- "Would you like to try?" –Kane asked the Grounders, offering them the rifles- "I could teach you. Your enemy has guns and so should you."

The Grounder nearest to him looked like he was going to take the weapon but Indra's voice stopped him, probably scolding them all.

\- "It's alright, I offered." –Kane interceded.

\- "We don't need your weapons." –Indra faced him before turning around- "Back to training. All of you."

The Grounders left and Sam looked at me in total confusion as Kane spoke.

\- "Guns could keep them alive." –Kane said- "It's like they're afraid of them."

\- "They are." –I spoke- "Legend has it if a Grounder picks up a gun, even to shoot another Grounder, Mount Weather will wipe out their entire village." –I explained- "Can't have your blood supply defending themselves, right?"

\- "Well, this may prove a little harder than we anticipated." –Sam commented, facing the Grounders fighting- "We may need to train like they do before they train like us."

\- "If we don't arm them we can't win." –Kane argued.

\- "Like hell we can't."

I raised my voice putting my sword back in its place and moving away from Kane as I made a sign for Sam to follow me.

\- "They won't trust us unless we trust them first, Kane."

Sam added before leaving with me towards our room.

\- "We need to do something." –I placed my sword on my bed as soon as I stepped inside- "We can't let the truce fail just because the Grounders won't take our guns."

\- "I'll repeat what I said to Kane: if we don't trust them, they won't trust us."

\- "Any ideas?"

\- "Oh, a couple." –she smiled sitting down on her bed- "All of them painful."

\- "I'm in."

\- "And I am the one who has a dangerous love for death, right?" -she chuckled.

\- "We have to do this, you know they won't."

\- "Honestly? I'm a little tired of doing the Chancellor's jobs. I didn't sign up for this."

\- "With Clarke back with the Commander and Bellamy in Mount Weather with Lincoln, you are the next in line to follow."

\- "I'm no leader, but I'll tell you what we have to do: train with them. I don't care if Indra says: 'only warriors train here' again. We are warriors." –Sam stood up confidently.

\- "Yeah!" –I agreed- "If anyone here can get into a fight with them, that's us. We've trained with Lincoln, we know something."

\- "Yeah, they'll kill us in no time, but someone has to take the initiative." –Sam smiled- "And that spirit may help us." –she snapped her fingers before pointing at me.

\- "Always so willing to get hurt." –I shook my head as I smiled.

\- "No. Always willing to do what's right."

\- "I like that point of view better."

\- "Well, you're welcome, then."

\- "Let's go eat and then we'll fight."

\- "That's such a good motto, I dig it."

After the whole day passed, rain arrived with the nighttime. Apparently, there was not enough food for all of us now, so someone needed to go hunting. Sam and I were moving towards the main door when Indra started to speak to the Grounders in Tringeslagen. I figured now would be as good of a time as it'd get; I moved towards Indra as she came to the door.

\- "Time for one more?"

\- "Step aside, sky girl." –Indra threatened me.

\- "Care to make it two?" –Sam moved beside me.

\- "Move. We're hungry."

\- "Make us." –I argued.

\- "Fio, Quint. Give these girls what they want."

I looked at Sam as the two Grounders approached us, Quint being the one who got with Murphy into a fight.  _Great._

\- "So much for giving it time, huh?"–Sam chuckled while whispering to me, taking her knives- "Together."

\- "Together." –I agreed, taking my sword.

Quint obviously went to face Sam and I knew this was not going to end well, but I knew Sam wasn't backing down so I faced Fio, ready to fight.

**SAM'S POV**

Obviously, Indra would choose Quint to fight us, and obviously, he'd come after me. I knew I didn't stand a chance of winning this for, even if I had trained with Lincoln, Quint was bigger and angrier than him and I had a couple of injuries from the day before, but I also knew backing down was never an option. I rolled my eyes as soon as Quint stood in front of me, taking out two knives, just like me.  _Oh, how I wish I had my bow._

\- "This will hurt." –he spoke getting into position.

\- "Trust me, I know, but someone has to get that stupid smile off your face. Might as well try."

\- "You wanna talk or fight, sky girl?"

\- "My name's Samantha."

I stated and moved as fast as I could towards him, knowing well that I had to hit him first if I wanted to stand a chance. I knew he saw me coming, so I raised my right arm as if that were the one I was going to use and he moved to his right to avoid my knife. I remembered practicing this with Lincoln. When I was almost next to him, I changed positions, and moved my left hand towards his side, managing to cut through his skin. He grunted as he felt the knife and quickly pushed his left knife towards my right arm, cutting me as I failed to move back fast enough. I stumbled back as he looked at my knife stuck on his right his side, leaving it there. Now I knew I fucked up for he had still both his knives and I only had one. Had it been anyone else, they'd be doubled in pain because of my cut, but not Quint.  _Why would he?_  We were moving in circles, waiting for the other to act first. I heard Octavia scream but I knew I couldn't lose my focus or Quint would easily get me. He finally stopped moving around and started to walk towards me, with both knifes facing me. He streaked with his right hand first and the blade of his knife cut my right cheek. I saw the chance and I bit him, making him drop the knife but he reacted and kicked my stomach with his knee. I fell to the floor.

\- "Biting? Really?" –he asked me with half a smile on his face as he shook his hand.

\- "We never said this was a fair fight, did we?"

I spat blood and saw Octavia a couple meters away from me, raising from the ground. I stood too, only to be met with the floor again as Quint kicked me in the ribs. I laid on my back as the pain spread through my body and I felt some wetness over my stomach.  _Those stitches didn't last long._  I looked at Quint and I saw him laughing. My blood started to boil and the rage I felt took control of my body. I rose up and ran up to him; he easily picked me up and crushed me back to the ground. I took my knife and threw it at him, hitting him on the thigh, but that only made him angrier. He took my knife, threw it to the floor and started to approach me with his only knife. He pinned me to the ground and placed the knife on my neck, cutting lightly.

\- "You lose, sky girl."

He let go of me and moved back.  _As if this was over yet._

\- "You already tired, Quint kom Trikru?" –I mocked standing back up, breathing heavily.

I knew I was done, but I refused to give in. Quint looked over at Indra, waiting for an order.

\- "If she wants more, give it to her."

Quint nodded and turned to face me; no knives this time. He closed the space between us with his fits up and I mimicked him. He threw a punch with his right but I managed to avoid it, lowering down and punching him in the stomach, making him take a step back.

\- "Good."

He praised before moving back to me and moving his right hand again, I moved to repeat my last movement but this time, he caught my hand with his left hand and twisted my arm, making me scream in pain. He pushed me to the ground and I fell on my face, getting covered in the mud from the rain.

\- "Ready to give up?" –he asked me, lowering in front of me.

\- "Never."

I took a handful of mud and scrubbed it on his face, giving me time to get back up and away from him as I massaged my arm. He was quick to get the mud from his face and I didn't like the smile he had on it. This time, I ran up to him and pushed him with all the force I had left, making us both fall to the ground. I pinned him to the ground and started punching him repeatedly with each fist. He was quick to move and pin my arms to the ground so I couldn't move. I tried to resist but he was too big and strong, there was nothing I could do. He didn't move for a moment, which only made me angrier.

\- "What are you waiting for, huh? End this." –I spat.

He moved his right hand towards my neck and started to tighten the grip. Breathing was already hard and I was tired enough to even open my eyes.

\- "Indra, stop this, he's going to kill her." -I barely heard Kane speaking.

\- "Stop this!" -a familiar voice shouted.

After a couple seconds the grip around my neck disappeared; I started to breathe more easily but I stood still on the ground, feeling as if I had fallen down a cliff. I felt hands on my face and I slowly opened my eyes. Octavia was looking at me bloody and in pain.

\- "You know this was training and not an actual fight, right?" –she whispered, lying next to me.

\- "Yeah, I didn't really want to kill him." –I chuckled but quickly started coughing so I moved to the side to spit all the blood I had in my mouth- "But apparently he did."

Kane and Murphy moved towards us.

\- "We got you."

Kane helped Octavia up as Murphy lowered to help me.

\- "What were you both trying to prove?" –Kane asked us as we moved inside the ship.

\- "What doesn't kill you..." –Octavia started.

\- "...makes you stronger." –I ended.

We were taken to the medical room to get all checked up and taken care of. I didn't question it for I was all beaten up and lying on a bed didn't seem like that much of a bad idea. Octavia and I were both equally beaten up, but some of the stitches Abbie had put on my cuts at the village had broken due to all the movement and hits I had taken. After Kane left, Murphy kept on pacing the room agitated.

\- "Could you stop doing that?" -Octavia told him, finally.

\- "Are you insane?" –he asked moving to the side of the bed opposite to the woman taking care of my wounds.

\- "I wanna say no." -I answered with a smile plastered on my face.

\- "Sam..."

\- "Listen, I'm fine; just a little bruised."

\- "Sam, you are lying on a bed at the medical center, again. Beaten up, bleeding and bruised. And, no offense, but Octavia isn't looking much better."

\- "Way to make friends Murphy." –Octavia spoke.

\- "Well, someone had to do it." –I continued- "And it didn't go that bad."

\- "Oh, really? How's that?" -he raised his eyebrow at me- "I come out of the ship and I see Octavia lying on the ground covered in dirt and a Grounder strangling you. So, explain to me how is that 'not that bad'." -he air-quoted my words.

\- "Well, I hit him a couple times, I'm actually quite proud. So, don't come and ruin my mood."

\- "I'm just worried you are going to get yourself killed." -he sighed.

\- "I'll survive, it's just a couple more scars and bruises. The usual day on Earth, you know?"

Murphy smiled at me and sat down on the bed as the woman had finished with me.

\- "I'm quite glad you are here, though."

\- "Yeah?"

\- "I wanted to check on you and see what Jaha wanted with you."

\- "Oh. He wants to know where we buried his son."

\- "I see."

\- "He wants me to show him. We were actually leaving when I overheard a conversation about you two."

\- "I don't know what Jaha's real intentions are, so be careful, M."

\- "I always am."

\- "Yeah, sure. Just stay alive, alright? I wanna see you again."

\- "I'll try." –Murphy chuckled standing from the bed and moving towards the door- "And you both try not to get killed next time you train with those brutes."

\- "Next time you'll come with us." –Octavia smiled.

\- "I'll much rather not."

Murphy waved goodbye at us and left. Once Octavia's wounds were all taken care of, she remained sat up on the bed next to mine.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

\- "Well, that was a good fight." –Sam finally spoke looking at the ceiling.

\- "Yeah, let's agree not to talk about it to Lincoln or Bellamy."

\- "I have a couple scars and bruises that will prove hard to hide until they heal." -she laughed.

\- "So, you're planning on showing him..." –I turned to face her.

\- "I was talking about my face, you idiot!" –she sat up, grunting for she had taken a good kick on the ribs.

\- "I see." –I laughed as she rolled her eyes at me- "Murphy is being really nice lately."

\- "I told y'all you just needed to trust him a little. He's trying, he's a good one."

\- "We'll see."

The doors opened again and Indra walked in. The only woman left there beside us, left as soon as she saw her.

\- "What do you want? –I asked her.

\- "You fought like a child today. All aggression, no thought, no defense. Always leaving yourself exposed, revealing your next move before each strike."

\- "Okay, I know. We got our ass kicked."

\- "Although we both got our ass kicked, I'm getting the feeling this is a one-on-one conversation with you, O." –Sam rose up- "If you give me a second, I'll leave you both to it, Indra."

\- "Does she know about your offer?" –Indra questioned Sam.

\- "Of course, she's my sister. First to know, why?"

\- "You may stay, Samantha." –Indra spoke, powerful- "You might get something out of this."

\- "Yes, Indra." –Sam nodded respectfully and sat back down.

\- "Well, I got my ass kicked, then. –I sighed- "That should make you happy."

\- "It does." –Indra sat on the other bed beside me- "Because you did not give up. Strength of spirit like that is rare, it must be guided."

_Guided? What does she mean?_

\- "Do you know what a warrior's second is?" –she asked me.

\- "An apprentice."

\- "I can make you a great warrior, Octavia of the Sky People, if you're willing to do what it takes to become my second."

\- "What's in it for you?"

\- "First lesson: never question me."

\- "Okay." –I replied as she moved away- "I'm in."

\- "Good."

\- "But what about Sam?"

\- "What about me?" –Sam asked, confused by my words.

\- "If I become her second, where does that leave your offer?"

\- "I'll gladly back down from that if it means you'll be training with Indra."

\- "You can't do that."

\- "You don't need me to tell you Indra's offer is a major once-in-a-lifetime-type of opportunity that'll help you with your fighting and defense techniques. If only one of us can train with them, that will be you." –she ended, no room for discussion this time.

\- "Both offers are still on the table." –Indra spoke- "One doesn't cancel the other. Octavia, you'll be learning directly from me, becoming my second." –I nodded- "Samantha, if she chooses to take the Commander's offer, would be training directly from our best warriors. She wouldn't be training as someone's second and therefore would not get to become a war chief like me."

I faced Sam again who gave me a small smile and nodded at Indra before lying back down.

\- "Thank you, Indra."

\- "We'll start tomorrow."

Indra said solemnly and left us alone.

\- "Well, that turned out for the best."

\- "What do you mean?"

\- "Oh, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not that good at taking orders."

\- "Hadn't noticed, really."

\- "I'm so stunned for you right now, O. This is massive!"

\- "It is."

\- "Now no one's gonna want to mess with you." –she chuckled.

\- "And this means the truce is still holding."

\- "Thanks to you. I'd like to have seen you destroy that guy." –she looked at me- "I'm sure he got harmed badly."

\- "Like I didn't even touch him."

\- "That makes me feel better because Quint wouldn't even flinch, and I'm pretty sure I stabbed him at some point." –she paused for a second- "Oh, God. Is my training going to be always like this? I may want to rent a bed here." –she burst out laughing.

\- "When are you talking with the Commander?"

\- "Next time I see her." –she paused as her stomach growled- "I think it's time for dinner."

\- "You think they'll let us eat?"

\- "I'm sure Indra will have something for you."

\- "I'll share."

\- "I'm not fighting for food right now, so I'd appreciate it."

We laughed and we stood up slowly, all bruised up but content with how things were turning out. We went outside the ship and sat next to the fire; the Grounders had caught a couple things and were cooking them on said fire. Indra cut a piece of meat and turned to face the guards and the sky people on the other side of the fire.

\- "Eat." –she started- "Get strong. Only then will we win this war."

Kane approached her as Sam whispered to me.

\- "Would you look at that." –her voice was happy.

\- "We did it." –I faced her- "Together."

\- "Together."

The Grounders were now sharing the food with the people from the Ark as Sam and I watched the scene. Out of nowhere, Quint came towards us and stood in front of Sam.

\- "If you're going to fight me again, I'd only ask for you to wait until I can actually move the right side of my body." –Sam looked up at him while hugging her ribcage.

Quint handed Sam a plate with meat.

\- "You'll need to eat more if you are training with us." –he said as Sam took the plate with both hands- "You did good today."

He then moved away and I looked at Sam who had the biggest confused look on her face.

\- "Well, now that's something I was not expecting."

\- "It was probably the mud." –she shrugged her shoulders.

\- "Mud?"

\- "Oh, one of the times he threw me to the floor I landed with my face on the mud, hence all the bruises. He stood in front of me and said something like 'ready to give up' so I took a handful of mud and placed it on his face."

I started laughing, imagining Quint's face when Sam rubbed the mud on it.

\- "I wish I could have seen his face." –I finally spoke- "You're truly a resourceful person."

\- "Well, I had to; I wasn't about to just lay there on my stomach while he looked all pleased with himself." –she handed me her plate to take a bite.

\- "He said you have to eat more."

\- "Well, my sister is not starving so take it. Eat."

Kane came to us as I took a bite from Sam's meat. He sat next to Sam with the plate Indra had given him.

\- "You did this." –he spoke before taking a bite of his food.

\- "You're welcome. Don't blow it." –I answered dryly.

\- "Hell yeah, cause I'm not repeating that."

Kane chuckled as Fio approached us with a plate with meat.

\- "The boar put up a better fight than you." -he handed me the plate and left.

\- "I see you're making friends." –Kane commented.

\- "Nah, he's just mad Octavia punched his nose."

\- "How'd you...?" –Kane asked her but she cut him.

\- "It's bruised and a little swollen, like my cheek."

\- "What do you want from us, Kane?" –I asked knowing well this wasn't a casual conversation.

\- "What do you think is gonna happen once we get our friends back?" –he questioned- "For now, we have a common goal, but one day this war's gonna end."

\- "Just get to the point."

\- "We know so little about them... You've earned their respect." –Kane started.

\- "Hey, stop right there Jaha number two." –Sam cut him- "We don't work for you."

\- "You're asking us to be your spies?"

\- "I'm asking you to look out for your people."

\- "I am." –I stood up, ready to move with Indra.

\- "What do you think we've been doing since you sent us here? Partying?"

Sam and I moved away.

\- "I'm going to bed, O. If something happens or Kane tries anything, come for me."

\- "I will. Goodnight."

Sam nodded and left towards the ship as I sat down with Indra, ready to begin my training.


	14. Infiltration.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy makes it inside Mount Weather with more difficulties than expected and with some extra help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: we know de deal by now --> torture, blood

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After we left the girls, Lincoln and I walked all night without stopping. With the sunlight, Lincoln stopped to perfect his disguise: to fully look like a Reaper he had to be covered in blood, so he haunted a deer and covered the lower part of his face with its blood, splashing it onto his clothes too.

\- "Okay." –I started- "So we make it to the intake door without any of the real Reapers seeing us. What happens then?"

\- "I kill everyone and you slip inside." –Lincoln answered shortly- "Limestone."

I handed him the Limestone and he painted a couple lines on his face with it. Once that was done, he stood up.

\- "Let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover before dark."

After walking for a while, I needed to get more information.

\- "I need to know what happened after the intake door."

\- "They remove your clothes, blast you with boiling water, then douse you with something that burns even more." –he explained- "We were also sorted. The others were tagged Harvest. I was tagged Cerberus, turned into a Reaper."

\- "Cerberus." –I remembered- "Three-headed dog that guards the underworld."

Lincoln looked at me with a confused look on his face.

\- "My mom read mythology to us all the time. Octavia loved it." –I explained as Lincoln nodded- "You're good for her, you make her strong."

\- "She was already strong."

\- "Hey, I need to ask you something." –I stopped him- "You protected my sister before you even knew her. Why?"

\- "When I was a boy I saw a ship fall from the sky; the man inside was hurt, his body broken. I couldn't get him out."

\- "Suicide by Earth. I heard the stories in the guard, I just didn't know they were true."

\- "I brought him food, water..." –he continued- "I didn't speak the enemy's language yet so I couldn't understand him but I wanted to. So, on the third day, I told my father; he made me kill him. The world's been trying to turn me into a monster for as long as I can remember." –he ended- "Let's keep moving."

He started jogging away but I stopped him.

\- "Wait, the parking garage where we found you it's North, that way." –I pointed to my left.

\- "There's a mine entrance closer to where the Reapers hand us over." –he explained- "We go into the underworld when we have to, not before."

He started jogging again and I had no other option than to follow him, after all, he was right. A couple hours later, Lincoln stopped and I took the opportunity to check Clarke's map one last time. Once I had memorized it as best as I could, I turned towards Lincoln.

\- "The Mountain has many eyes between here and the tunnels." –he explained as he carved a branch- "From now on, details must be exact."

\- "What if we run into real Reapers? Wouldn't they wonder where you've been?"

\- "All they see is the Red. Once you've taken it, nothing else matters, just how you'll get more."

\- "How much do you remember from when you were on it?"

\- "Everything." –he stood up- "Turn around."

I took a deep breath knowing fully well what I had gotten myself into. As Lincoln placed the branch over my shoulder and tied my hands to it, I started to think.  _This is what we do, we risk our lives to save those who can't save themselves._  I thought of Sam and O and what they'd be up to.  _At least they both are safe back at camp and that's the only thing that matters. That, and getting alive out of this one._ Once Lincoln was content with how everything had turned out, he started moving, pulling me after him. When we finally made it to the entrance, Lincoln stopped and looked at it.

\- "Come on. Let's do this."

Lincoln took a deep breath and we walked into the darkness. The tunnels all looked the same, but thankfully Lincoln knew where he was going. He suddenly stopped.

\- "Why are we stopping?" –I asked turning around.

He was looking at the ground: an empty bottle of the Red liquid was standing in front of him and he had his eyes focused on it. He stepped his foot over it, crashing it.

\- "You okay?"

\- "As soon as they open the intake doors, we attack." –he informed me- "Do not let it close. Once they're all dead, you go in. I'll make it look like you escaped. Once you're inside..." –he sighed.

\- "I know." –I cut him.

Shouting started to be heard in the distance as a fire light approached us.

\- "Another raider party." –Lincoln approached me to free me- "We have to go back."

\- "Go back? No way. There's three, maybe four, we can fight our way through."–I argued- "We'll never get a better chance than this."

\- "Look, I thought I could do this but I can't, okay? It's over."

\- "No, it's not. We can join them. Listen to me, when they bring out the Red you grab it and you run like hell." –I explained- "The Reapers will go nuts, the Grounders will run and the Mountain Men will have to deal with it. No one will be looking for a Grounder running into the mountain."

\- "I said no."

Lincoln grabbed the branch from my shoulders and threw it away. I threw myself at him and punched him.

\- "Fight back. They'll think I'm trying to escape."

Said and done; Lincoln wasted no time and I was on my knees with a knife to my neck in less than two seconds. Just then, a Reaper approached us and Lincoln spoke to him in Tringeslagen. The Reapers answered him and soon Lincoln raised us both from the ground and moved with me towards where the other prisoners had been tied up together. Soon enough, my eyes were covered and my hands tied up together. It didn't take much longer until we stopped and I heard them speaking again as they took off all of our clothes except for our underwear. We were made kneel on the ground before taking the fold from our eyes. I looked around until I found Lincoln looking at me, giving me a small nod. The door to our right opened and people in protective suits started to come out of it while a high-pitched humming was heard.

\- "Stay back or you won't get your dose." –one of the men in suits announced.

A woman carrying a folder and a pen in her hands positioned herself in front of us and started to check us. She looked at me and tagged me harvest. I looked beside me and saw the Reapers getting on their knees to receive their dose; I saw Lincoln slowly approaching the man with the Red.  _No._  I shook my head but Lincoln got on his knees, tilted his head and received the Red. His eyes shut and he fell to the floor, grunting.  _This is not how it was supposed to go._

\- "Harvest them all."

The woman from before spoke and the men got all of us up. I fought them back until I was hit on the back of my neck and fell to the floor, in front of Lincoln. They took me by the arms and I was dragged through the floor and inside the Mountain, leaving Lincoln out there alone. We were taken to a room and chained by the neck to the walls and, after that, what Lincoln had described to me became earlier a reality, only worse. Everything we were showered with burnt my skin, we were brushed with the hardest brooms that made us bleed, they checked our mouths and injected us with things I never knew what were. After everything and all the screaming I did, I passed out. Once I came back to my senses, I was in a cage. I looked around me and what I saw, frightened me and infuriated me at the same time: two people were hanging by their feet as their blood was taken from them. The room was full of cages and in each of them, I could see an exhausted Grounder. I started checking the cage for a way out and all eyes were on me. The Grounder next to me said something but I couldn't understand her.

\- "I can't... I don't understand you."

\- "Sky person?"

She asked me, moving in her cage to face me and I nodded; she spat on me.

\- "I take no one has told you we are not enemies anymore." –I cleaned my face as she moved away, pure hatred in her eyes- "I need to get out of this cage."

\- "And then what?"

\- "And then I'll kill everyone in this mountain."

 _For my people, to save my family and to get back home._  I kept trying to get out, but it seemed impossible. A noise was heard and the door to the room opened. The Grounder beside me spoke.

\- "They come." –she warned everyone as I kept trying to break the lock- "Quiet!".

Everything went quiet as the men approached us: a guard and a man on a white coat, a doctor I assumed. They stopped in front of her cage and the hatred in her eyes quickly dissolved into panic as she pushed herself as far into the cage as she could, trying to get away from the door; I knew I had to help her somehow, so I started kicking my door, which drew the men's attention.

\- "We got us a lively one." –the guard almost joked.

The doctor nodded and introduced a stick in my cell that electrocuted me as it touched my skin. I yelled as they opened the door, I wanted to resist but my body wouldn't react. The doctor poke my upper arm with a needle and injected something into my body. I felt my senses beginning to numb and I knew this was the end.  _I'm sorry, Sam, O._

**MAYA'S POV**

After promising Jasper I'd keep looking for his friends, I went straight into the hospital room; I checked all the patient's dialysis files, trying to find a clue about where they had taken them. As I was checking the last one, the door opened, startling me.

\- "Sergeant Lovejoy, hi." –I greeted him.

\- "Where's Trope? I need to go over the treatment schedule so I know how many cages to clear."

\- "He just left."

\- "Thanks. I'll try to catch him."

He was moving back towards the door when the patient's device beeped, letting us know the treatment had ended. Lovejoy moved beside me to check her file.

\- "She's done an hour early. Twenty-five-minute treatment, that's gotta be a record."

\- "You really need Thorpe now, huh?" –I questioned, thinking of something- "You know, I think he said something about going to the main hall."

\- "Thanks."

He left the room.  _An hour early. That has to be one of Jasper's friends, it's the only explanation._ I walked in there, to the room where they kept the Grounders and took their blood and I saw a guy hanging down.  _It has to be him._  He wasn't' moving but he was still alive, so I assumed they had given him something to keep him still. I checked the cabinet beside him and found epinephrine.  _This should work._  I took one of the vials and injected it into his thigh. He gasped for air and blinked hard, trying to focus his gaze as I lowered in front of him.

\- "Who are you?" –I asked but he didn't answer- "You're from the Ark, aren't you?"

\- "Yeah."

\- "Do you know Jasper?"

\- "Maya." –he whispered surprising me, but I nodded- "How about getting me down, Maya?"

I nodded and started ripping the electrodes that monitored his heart rate when a guard came in.

\- "Lovejoy, hey."

\- "What are you doing here? You're not cleared for this facility."

\- "I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see what was so special about him but... he's dead."

Lovejoy approached me and checked the screen to view his vitals, which were flat.

\- "He is."

He then moved to the panel to lower the guy from the Ark to the ground. As he laid on the floor, Lovejoy approached him and started to unchain his legs.

\- "You're a brave girl, coming in here alone..."

He couldn't finish his sentence due to the guy's feet colliding with his chin, making him fall backward. The guy unchained his other leg as Lovejoy recovered and stood up.

\- "Don't move!" –he shouted taking out his gun- "Don't move." –he stopped- "On your feet!"

I took a scalpel from a table beside me and stabbed Lovejoy with it, giving the guy some time to stand up. Lovejoy took the scalpel and cut the guys arm with it, making him move backward. He then punched him in the face and smashed his face with the metal cages. I saw he dropped his gun on the floor and I took it.

\- "Stop!" –I demanded, pointing it at him.

\- "No, don't!" –the guy stopped me- "They'll hear."

He then punched Lovejoy in the stomach, making him grunt in pain; Lovejoy stroke him in the stomach with his knee and the guy grunted as Lovejoy took him by the neck and was about to cut his throat when the Grounder inside of the cage took his arm and prevented him from moving it, making Lovejoy release the guy and fight the Grounder to get his hand mobility back. This opportunity was taken by the guy to strangle Lovejoy, who tried to fight back with only one hand, trying to poke one of the guy's eyes, but he bit him instead, making Lovejoy remove his hand to his neck, trying to strangle him back but unable to. Finally, Lovejoy fell to the floor, dead.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Thank you." –I told the Grounder in the cage and turned to face Maya- "Are you alright?"

She had the gun still on her hands and was shaking. I felt bad for her, for what she had had to see and do.

\- "Are you okay?" –I asked again approaching her.

\- "I'm fine." –she finally answered.

I swiped my hand across my mouth, cleaning the blood as I turned to watch the dead guard.

\- "Help me get him undressed." –I said moving towards him- "We need to get rid of the body."

She nodded and moved to help me.

\- "My name's Bellamy."

\- "I know you, Jasper told me about all of you."

I smiled knowing Jasper. We undressed the guard and I put on his clothes and got rid of his body through something that looked like a tunnel that went down. Maya still looked uncomfortable.

\- "You've done enough." –I told her as I put on the belt- "You should walk away."

\- "You don't know where you're going."

\- "Draw me a map."

\- "No." –she handed me the gun and the guard's pass- "I'm in."

\- "Okay." –I checked the bullets on the gun- "I need to get to the radio so I can contact my people. We heard Jasper's SOS."

\- "I helped them set that up, I know where it is." –she looked worriedly at me- "Bellamy, your people are disappearing. Two so far: Monty and Harper. I thought they'd be in here but...

\- "I wanna see the others." –I cut her off- "Now."

\- "The dorm's on the way to the radio." –she explained and I started moving towards the door- "Wait. Everyone here knows everyone." –she ripped the name tag from my suit- "Put this on..." –she handed me a cap- "...and roll up your sleeve."

I did as she said and moved towards the table where she stood by.

\- "The tracking chip." – I realized what she was thinking of.

\- "It'll trip alarms once we start moving." –she explained- "We need to take it out."

\- "Do it." -I moved my arm towards her and she started cutting.

\- "How'd you know what my name was before I told you?" –she questioned me.

\- "Clarke." –I answered- "She said Jasper couldn't stop talking about someone named Maya."

She chuckled lightly and pulled out the chip as I covered the cut.

\- "Put this in your cage." –she handed it to me.

I moved towards my cage, placed the chip in it and closed it before facing the Grounder that helped me.

\- "I'll come back for you. I promise." –I moved to Maya- "Take me to my friends."

Maya nodded and started walking in front of me as we got out of there.

\- "There are 382 people inside this mountain." –she explained to me as we walked through the corridors- "If any of them realizes that you're not one of us, you're dead." –she passed her card through the elevator's security panel- "We're on level two, the dorm is on five. There's a camera in the upper right-hand corner. Keep your head down."

She explained to me as the elevator bell rang and we entered. I covered my face from the camera using the cap she had handed me. The elevator door started closing when a man stopped it.

\- "Hold the elevator." – _Fuck_ \- "Hey, Maya. You know I missed you in my Expressionists class."

 _My friends are getting killed and they are receiving art lessons._  I thought as Maya talked to him.  _Sam would have love those._  I placed my hand over my gun and looked at Maya, who looked at me and shook her head. The elevator stopped at level 4 and two more people entered. I lowered my cap even more to try and cover my face from them. When the elevator finally reached level 5, the two people from level 4 got down and Maya made me a sign to get out too. As we were doing so, the man spoke.

\- "Hey, you're bleeding. Are you okay?" –he asked me.

\- "You've been exposed." –Maya reacted quickly- "We need to retrace your steps and find the breach." –she pulled me inside the elevator again and took the man's handkerchief to cover my wound- "You better go." –she told the man.

\- "What about you?" –he asked getting out.

\- "This is my job, I'll be fine."

\- "Keep the handkerchief."

We ended up at another level as I kept following Maya. When we were about to turn a corner, a bell rang and she stopped me as I heard a woman's voice.  _Kids going to class? This is not good._

\- "Come on." –Maya told me as she kept moving.

I was about to follow her when someone pulled on my sleeve.

\- "Mister?" –a little kid spoke to me- "Are you on a ground unit? My dad's training for a ground unit."

\- "It's pretty cool up there." –I answered- "I hope he makes it."

He smiled at me and walked past us towards the classroom. His backpack had a name on it: Lovejoy; the man I had just killed and whose uniform I was wearing. I felt sick, closing my eyes and sighing.

\- "They're just kids."

\- "What did you expect you'd find here?"

Maya asked me and I didn't know what to say. She turned around and started walking again; I took a deep breath and followed her.

\- "There they are."

Maya informed me after we had been moving around the place and finally made it to the dorm; I could see Jasper inside but, before I could say anything, an alarm started ringing and the door to the dorm closed.

\- "What the hell is going on?"

\- "I don't know. It's not a breach but it can't be good." –Maya spoke as she looked towards the door.

I followed her gaze and saw Jasper on the door's little window.

\- "Get me to that radio."

Once we got to the radio, I followed the instructions Raven had given me to contact them.

\- "Camp Jaha, this is Mount Weather. Anyone read me?" –I spoke on the radio- "Camp Jaha, this is Mount Weather. Does anyone read me?"

\- "Bellamy?" –Clarke's voice sounded through the radio.

\- "Clarke?" –I sighed, relieved I had managed to contact them.

\- "Are you alright?"

\- "I'm fine." –I quickly answered- "But that's it for the good news. We have to talk fast, something has changed. Jasper, Monty... everyone is locked inside the dorm."

\- "But they're alive? All of them?"

\- "I think so. For now... Maya says that they're already using their blood and things will get ugly in here real fast."

\- "Maya's with you?"

\- "She helped me escape; if not for her, I'd be dead." –I looked at Maya who was looking at the floor now- "And Clarke, there are kids in here. We need a plan that doesn't kill everyone, please, tell me we have one."

\- "I hear you, but we can't do anything until you disable the acid fog. Raven's gonna help you."

\- "Got it, what else?"

\- "You have to figure out a way to free the Grounder prisoners. There's a whole army inside that mountain and they don't even realize it."

\- "A Trojan horse, good plan."

\- "What does Maya think? Is it doable?" –Clarke asked and I looked at her.

\- "She says it's not a problem." –I said even if Maya's face denoted the opposite- "Clarke, if I'm gonna pull this off, I need you to buy me some time. It won't be long before they realize I don't belong here and if that happens..."

\- "That can't happen." –Clarke firmly said- "I'll come up with something."

\- "Come up with it quick."

\- "Copy that. And Bellamy?"

\- "Yeah?"

\- "You came through. I knew you would."

\- "All I've done so far is not get killed."

\- "I'd say so far you're doing great, though with a little help I've heard."

\- "Sam?"

\- "Who else could it be?" –I heard her chuckle through the radio.

\- "You alright?"

\- "Haven't done anything dangerous yet, keeping myself and your sister out of trouble, don't worry."

\- "Good."

\- "Raven wants to talk with you so I'm gonna go now but stay alive and say hello to the guys from me and give Maya a hug for keeping you and the guys alive."

\- "Alright." –I chuckled looking at Maya.

\- "Can't wait to meet you Maya!" –Sam said before Raven's voice came through- "Get out of here before he loses his focus and dies. Hello, Bellamy."

**SAM'S POV**

I had been looking for Murphy for the past two days, only to find out Jaha had had this brilliant idea of going somewhere past a dessert to find a promised land.  _If he wasn't insane already, he definitely is now._ He had spoken with a few people that left with him, including Murphy since they left from the dropship. I was mad he left without saying goodbye, but I also understood he felt like he didn't belong here; I just hoped I'd see him again.  _And then I'll beat his ass for leaving._  I was walking past Raven's workplace when I heard Bellamy's voice on the radio and my heart skipped a beat.  _He did it._  A prideful smile plastered on my face while Clarke talked with him and Raven gave me a look.

\- "What?" –I whispered to her- "I knew he'll come through."

\- "You know very well what I mean."

I rolled my eyes and took the radio from Clarke's hands when she looked at me.

\- "All I've done so far is not get killed." –he told Clarke.

\- "I'd say so far you're doing great, though with a little help I've heard."

\- "Sam?" –his voice sounded like a surprised whispered and I found it hilarious.

\- "Who else could it be?" –I chuckled.

\- "You alright?"

_Of course, he would ask me that._

\- "Haven't done anything dangerous yet, keeping myself and your sister out of trouble, don't worry."

\- "Good."

I could practically hear the relief in his voice as Raven poked my arm and motioned for me to give her the radio.  _Right, no time for this._

\- "Raven wants to talk with you so I'm gonna go now but stay alive and say hello to the guys from me and give Maya a hug for keeping you and the guys alive."

\- "Alright."

\- "Can't wait to meet you Maya!" –I hurried as Raven practically ripped the radio from my hands and pointed towards the door.

\- "Get out of here before he loses his focus and dies." –she practically kicked me out- "Hello, Bellamy."

I smiled and stuck my tongue out at her before leaving her to work with Bellamy. I walked outside to find Octavia and let her know Bellamy was alright. Once I got out of the ship, I saw the Grounders following Clarke and I moved towards them. They had the guard from Mount Weather with them.  _What's going on?_  I found Octavia in between the Grounders and I walked to her as I heard Clarke speak.

\- "You may be the Chancellor, but I'm in charge."

_Badass Clarke has risen to the surface, everyone beware._

\- "Indra, tell your people to stand down before this gets out of hand."

\- "No." –Indra answered.

\- "People could get hurt." –Abbie spoke.

\- "Not if you get out of my way." –Clarke answered her- "You need to trust that I know what's right for us."

\- "The Grounders trust Clarke." –Kane told Abbie- "Maybe we should too."

_Who would have guessed, Kane on Clarke's side._

\- "Stand down." –Abbie told the guards.

\- "Open the gate." –Clarke demanded moving forward- "Now."

We all walked pass Abbie and Kane and got to the front door; two Grounders took the prisoner outside as Clarke faced him. Octavia and I stood beside her.

\- "Can you hear me alright?" –Clarke asked him- "Because I need to make sure you get this."

\- "Loud and clear."

\- "I have a message for your leader: we're coming for him. You're watching us but you haven't seen a thing. The Grounder army is bigger than you think and, even if you could find it, your acid fog can't hurt them; and now, thanks to you, neither can the Reapers." –she pulled out from her pocket something that looked like a linter but that emitted a high-pitched sound- "So, you have one last chance; let our people go and we'll let you live. It's just that simple."

\- "Got it."

Clarke took the guard's suit oxygen level marker and checked it.

\- "That's an eight-hour walk back to Mount Weather, right?" –Clarke asked.

He nodded and Clarke pressed a button, making the oxygen escape from the bottle.

\- "Make it seven."

\- "Seven hours?" –he asked- "That's not enough." –he complained.

\- "Not enough?" –I moved forward as he looked at me- "Well, then make it six." –I looked at Clarke who nodded and pressed the button again.

\- "How am I supposed to deliver your message?" –he looked at me.

\- "Oh, you will." –Clarke assured him confidently.

\- "Or you and everyone inside that Mountain that's not our people will die."

\- "Now, go." –Clarke ended it.

He started moving away from us as we turned around to walk inside the camp.

\- "Clarke." –Octavia approached her- "Do you wanna explain to me how this helps my brother?"

\- "I just told them we have a secret army to worry about. The more they are looking at us, the less they're looking at him." –Clarke reassured her and I nodded in agreement- "Bellamy is the key to everything, Octavia. If he dies, we die."

Octavia widened her eyes but nodded nonetheless.

\- "He better not, or you'll be the first one down, I promise you." –I told Clarke.

A Grounder moved his hand to his sword while looking at me as I raised my eyebrow at him.

\- "It's fine."

Clarke told him and he relaxed. She looked at me and nodded before leaving.

\- "Sam..."

\- "Don't worry, O. He's fine. I was there when Clarke spoke to him, don't worry."

Octavia sighed and looked at Indra who was still beside us.

\- "I'm gonna go to Tondc now."

\- "It's nighttime, Sam."

\- "I'm not scared of the dark, O." –I smiled- "Lexa wants me there in the morning to train with one of her generals, I'll see you in the afternoon once Indra and you arrive."

\- "Oreth and Ion will go with you." –Indra informed me.

I nodded and Indra started to move away, Octavia hugged me.

\- "Be careful."

\- "You too." –I smiled.

Octavia left after Indra and I moved to look for Oreth and Ion, the two Grounders that had been like my shadow for the past two days. Oreth was a black-haired woman with deep brown eyes and Ion had short brown hair, black eyes, and a somewhat long bear. After Octavia and I had fought Quint and Fio and after Octavia took Indra's offer and Indra learned of my intention of accepting Lexa's, she sent one of her soldiers to inform Heda of my decision while she made Oreth and Ion provisionally responsible of my training. Later, I found out that Ion had been the Grounder who had taken me to see Lexa on his horse the day I tried to convince her to take me instead of Finn. As he had told me then, we spent the first day together learning Tringeslagen, which I appreciated since my ribs still hurt a bit; I was pretty sure he knew and therefore chose to start light instead of going full warrior mode on me. I met Oreth the next day after my Tringeslagen lessons, they both decided I had rested enough and we started training. It was hard but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. They were both good teachers and even if I ended up 90% of the time on the ground, they made sure I repeated their moves until I carried them out properly, the resting 10% accounting for when I landed on the floor after a new move was introduced.  _Fun times._  I finally found them with their horses, two amazing creatures so fast and strong, sometimes I had trouble believing they were real. I spoke to them about going to Tondc and they both agreed on parting as soon as possible. Once we got everything ready, even my bow that I had finally found hidden by Abbie at the Hospital Centre, and had said goodbye to Raven, Oreth and Ion mounted their horses and he offered me his hand to mount with him. Oreth moved in front of us and Ion made his horse follow her. The guards opened the door, and to Tondc we left.


	15. Sheda.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy, Raven and Clarke work against the clock to save their people inside Mount Weather when they learn about the Mountain men’s plan to launch a missile against Tondc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of my baby Sheda, hope you guys will like him too.

**RAVEN'S POV**

I had been working on everything Clarke had asked me to since she left, but without supplies or intel there wasn't much more I could do, so the next thing I did was draw a map of Mount Weather in a board on the basis of her drawing and then I focused on the dam.

\- "Has he checked in yet?" –Clarke entered the room.

\- "No." –I turned around to see she was followed by a Grounder- "Worried someone's gonna take a shot at you inside the Ark?"

\- "Wait outside." –she told the Grounder as I turned around- "Lexa's orders." –she informed me.

\- "Whatever, Clarke."

\- "He's late, what if something's happened to him?"

\- "Then you'll need that Grounder because Sam will kill you." –I glanced at her for a second, smiling- "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

\- "You've been busy." –she spoke after sighing at my remark- "Why are you focusing on the dam? I told you acid fog was our priority."

\- "Well... until Bellamy gets eyes on their dispersal system there's only so much I can do."

\- "Fine." –she gave in- "Tell me about the dam. Can we cut off their power?"

\- "Maybe. I'm still playing with a few things."

As I kept looking at the dam's map, she turned and took one of the Reaper's Repellent, as Sam and I had baptized it that same morning, and pressed the button.

\- "How many of these have you made?"

\- "Only two so far but..."

\- "Two?!" –she put it back aggressively on the table- "That's not enough! There'll be Reapers everywhere!"

\- "High-frequency tone generators don't grow on trees, Clarke." –I was starting to get annoyed at her- "Wick's scrounging for parts."

\- "Raven." –she stopped me- "I am about to leave for Tondc where Lexa and the heads of all 12 Grounder clans are waiting for me to tell them we're a go. Only we are not a go because they still have the acid fog and we only have two-tone generators."

\- "Hey." –I approached her understanding her concern- "We'll be ready." –she looked at me, doubtful- "We will." –I reassured her.

\- "Work Station, do you read me?" –Bellamy's voice came through the radio- "Anybody there?"

\- "Bellamy, you're late." –Clarke was quick to take the radio- "Every three hours means every three hours."

\- "Are you through?"

\- "Have you found the source of the acid fog?"

\- "No, that's gonna have to wait."

\- "What? No." -Clarke was getting more stressed by the second- "Nothing is more important than that."

\- "Our friends are. They've started taking them from the dorm one at a time every few hours."

\- "Taking them where?" –I spoke through the radio.

\- "I don't know. We tried to follow them but they went to a classified level." –the pain in Bellamy's voice mixed with guilt- "Maya borrowed the schematics of the vent system from her boss and we're still trying to find a way in. Anything?"

\- "I think I found a path, but it's gonna be tight." –we heard Maya answer him- "Here's the walkie Raven asked for and the earbud."

Clarke looked at me confused.

\- "We're gonna make him mobile so that he can talk to us from anywhere." –I explained to her and she nodded.

\- "Bellamy, you have to find them."

\- "That's the plan."

\- "If you don't, all of this is for nothing."

\- "Yeah."

Clarke handed me the radio and moved towards the door.

\- "I'll be right back."

\- "I thought you were going to Tondc."

I spoke but she left without clearing my doubts. I sighed and turned towards the radio and my own map of Mount Weather to work with Bellamy and Maya to find a way in and to make the walkie work properly. Eventually, Clarke came back, explaining to me she wasn't leaving so she started to work with me to find a way in for Bellamy and, once we found it, he started to move through the vent system, leaving Maya behind to pretend everything was going fine.

\- "Okay." –I spoke again through the radio- "Tell us where you're at now."

\- "I'm at an intersection, which way?"

\- "He just passed the air filtration system on this floor which puts him around here." –I pointed on the board for Clarke.

\- "Bellamy." –she spoke on the radio- "We think you're close, the lab should be up ahead."

\- "Any chance you could be more specific?"

He questioned and I looked at the map; it wasn't very accurate so there was no way for us to know which way he needed to go. Suddenly, a whirring sound came through the radio.

\- "Never mind."-Bellamy spoke again- "I got this."

\- "Is that a drill?" –I asked Clarke who looked at me.

\- "Bone marrow extraction."

The realization of what was going on hit me. We heard heels and then a woman's voice through Bellamy's earpiece.

\- "You ready for the last treatment you'll ever need, lieutenant?"

\- "You have no idea. I've waited my whole life to breathe fresh air."

\- "That's Emerson." –Clarke told us.

\- "Let's get back to this secret army that she claims to have." –another man's voice came in- "Did she tell you anything that might help us find it?"

The drilling noise started again.

\- "Stop drilling, please." –the same man asked over the noise.

\- "The window for extraction after death is incredibly short." –the woman spoke and my blood froze.

\- "I only need a minute."

\- "No, sir, nothing about the army." –Emerson spoke again as the drilling stopped, allowing us to hear everything more clearly- "Clarke did say that if we let her people go, she'll let our people live. The other girl, however, didn't seem to really care about any of that, she was much more confrontational; she cut my oxygen supply for another hour, I almost died because of her." –Emerson spoke with poison in his tone as I looked at Clarke and she mouthed what I expected: Sam- "If she were their leader, Sir, I don't think she'd let any of us live."

\- "Good thing she's not, then." –the other man spoke, almost in a chuckle- "Although it is a little bit late for their initial offer."

\- "I'm sorry I failed, sir."

\- "No, it's okay. We'll finish the job tonight. Whitman just radioed in. Apparently, there's a War Council meeting happening tonight in one of their villages and all the leaders are gonna be there. Hopefully, your little friend will be there too."

\- "Sir, I feel good. Let me take a team out, support Whitman."

\- "No, he has less chance of being spotted if he's alone."

\- "Sir, Whitman's good but he can't take out that many targets alone."

\- "Which is why we're gonna use a missile. This time we're not gonna miss."

I faced Clarke as we both stood there in shock. We could hear Bellamy moving through the vent until he spoke again.

\- "Please, tell me you heard all that."

\- "We heard it." –Clarke answered him.

\- "We have to warn them."

\- "Did Kane take a radio?" –Clarke asked me.

\- "No, this is the only unjammed frequency and we have to keep it open for Bellamy."

\- "If I leave now, I can make it there in time."

\- "In time to be blown up, you mean." –I argued, stopping her.

\- "When I get back, I wanna know our friends are safe and the acid fog is down. Can you handle that?"

\- "Yes, we can handle it." –I took the radio- "Go."

\- "Clarke, wait." –Bellamy spoke fast- "Octavia and Sam, are they...?"

\- "They're both here, they're training together outside right now, don't worry. They're safe."

\- "Okay, good." –he answered relieved- "You be safe too."

\- "I will."

\- "Sam and Octavia are both in Tondc for the meeting, why did you lie to him?" –I questioned as she let go of the radio.

\- "Bellamy can't be distracted, it helps no one." –she explained and moved to the door.

\- "Hey." –I hugged her- "Don't get blown up."

She let go of me and nodded, leaving me to deal with the acid fog.  _I hope she's right, I can't lose Sam too._

**SAM'S POV**

It didn't take us long to get to Tondc and, once we got there, I went straight to sleep to wake up early in the morning to speak with Lexa and for my training session with whoever she had chosen. I woke up the next day, luckily having had a decent sleep and walked around until I found Lexa.

\- "Heda." –I greeted her.

\- "Samantha kom Skaikru. Monin." –she welcomed me in Trigedasleng.

\- "Mochof. Ai laik hir gon hon daun bilaik offer." –I answered back, not really sure if I was using the correct words but trying nonetheless.

\- "I see you've already started your lessons, good." –Lexa nodded in appreciation- "Sheda." –she called one of the Grounders behind her- "He will be training with you, Oreth and Ion today."

\- "Very well, Heda."

With that, Lexa left, followed by three other Grounders while Sheda stayed with me.

\- "So... you're the famous Samantha." -I saw him crossing his arms over his chest from the corner of my eye.

\- "I wouldn't say famous..." –I quickly glanced up at him before looking at Lexa leaving again- "...but yes, I'm Samantha."

\- "You're not quite what I expected."

\- "Should I be offended by that?" -I turned to face him.

\- "Quint said you put up a fight, I thought you'd be... I don't know..." -he shrugged his shoulders.

\- "I see." –I smiled- "He probably was trying to scare you; I don't think I harmed him much, honestly, but I did get a decent number of cuts and bruises."

\- "He said for someone who fell from the sky, you fought decently."

\- "I'd like to say I'll be better today but something tells me I'm going to receive more than I'm going to serve." –I laughed looking at Sheda who was now walking beside me towards where Oreth and Ion were.

\- "We'll see." –he smiled- "I'd like to question why you carry a bow with no arrows."

\- "Lincoln made it for me, it's a gift. I've been meaning to learn to build some arrows, just never really got the chance." –I shrugged my shoulders and he nodded understanding.

Sheda was probably just a couple years older than me and he seemed to be okay with the Trikru-Skaikru alliance, which made things much easier. I spent the morning training with him while Oreth and Ion trained next to us on their own for the most part, but from time to time they'd check how I was doing and corrected the position of my hands or my feet. They were all so likable I had trouble believing we were once at war.

\- "Well done, Samantha." –Oreth said from beside us once I finally managed to throw Sheda to the ground- "He's finally where he belongs." –she laughed.

\- "You're a fast learner, nobody cared to share that." –Sheda looked at Oreth and Ion who seemed to be pretty entertained by us.

\- "Not always." –I smiled offering him my hand- "You're a good teacher."

\- "I'd say we're done for today." –Sheda rose up beside me- "The meeting is in a couple hours and we all have assigned jobs; go grab some food before everything gets crazy, you deserve it. We'll train again tomorrow and we'll see how it goes from there."

\- "No one is coming to lunch with me?" –I questioned him before looking at Oreth and Ion.

\- "Technically you're not one of us yet and the other clans are still unsure about this..." –Ion explained.

\- "Seems fair." –I accepted knowing what he meant- "I'll see you three around then."

Each of us left to do their own thing.  _Maybe Octavia is here already and she could come with me. Maybe I could also get around making some arrows, that should be interesting._  I found Octavia in the distance talking with Indra who seemed to dismiss her so I went to meet her.

\- "O!"

\- "Sam!" –she turned to face me- "You look a little beat up."

\- "Well, I've been training all morning." –I reminded her- "It was great."

\- "Really?" –she raised an eyebrow at me.

\- "Yeah, I mean of course I'll be the one on the ground most of the time, but I'm getting there, give me some credit, sis." –I laughed.

\- "What are you up to now?" –she said smiling.

\- "Food break before the meeting. Got some time on your hands?"

\- "Yeah. Indra dismissed me so I guess we could get some food."

\- "Great, now let's see if they let us or we have to kick their asses again."

\- "More like the other way around, but alright."

We both laughed and started walking around the village until we found a place where they were serving food; not many happy faces but they let us eat, which I considered an improvement. After eating and while we were talking and walking around the village, Indra walked to us.

\- "I think your break is over." –I whispered to Octavia.

\- "What will you be doing now?"

\- "I don't know, I'll walk around and try not to fuck anything up."

\- "Yeah, that'd be nice." –Octavia smiled- "I'll see you after the meeting is over."

\- "Sure thing."

\- "Octavia." –Indra was now in front of us.

\- "And I'm gonna go now." –I smiled at O- "Indra, good to see you."

Indra nodded and I turned around to leave. I really liked Indra and I respected her, I was glad Octavia was with her for I knew she would teach her well. I started looking around when someone patted me in the back and I turned to face them ready to fight.

\- "I see you're always up for a fight."

\- "Sheda! You out of everyone here should know not to jump on people like that; especially not on me when I know half the people here don't like me." –I crossed my arms over my chest.

\- "Yeah, you're probably right."

\- "So, what are you up to? Have a job for me because that'd be great, I'm getting bored."

\- "Actually, yes. I was looking for you because I have something to show you."

\- "Imma go ahead and trust you."

\- "Come with me."

I followed Sheda through the village when I heard a familiar voice.

\- "He's working on it."

\- "Clarke!" –I stopped walking- "I thought you'd never make it."

She smiled at me and simply walked by. Octavia was talking with her and she gave me a confused look as she followed Clarke.

\- "Something's wrong." –I muttered watching them leave.

\- "What do you mean?" –Sheda questioned.

\- "Clarke... she looks worried, as if something bad was about to happen."

\- "We are getting together to fight a war, Samantha. I'd say that would make anyone nervous."

\- "I guess you could be right. Anyway, what are we doing then?"

\- "We're almost there, come on."

Sheda resumed walking as I chuckled and followed him. Had it been anyone else, I'd said this was a rather sketchy situation, but it was Sheda we were talking about: Lexa had chosen him out of everyone she could have picked and I thought he was reliable and encouraging so I decided to trust my gut on this one, as usual, and chose to follow him. We were almost outside the village when Sheda stopped and pointed in front of him. I moved beside him and looked at the ground: thin branches were piled up next to some tools and a rope.

\- "Is this what I think it is?" –I smiled looking up at him.

\- "I thought if you were going to be carrying that bow around you might as well get a quiver and some arrows, plus learning how to build them is always helpful."

\- "Don't take this the wrong way but why are you being this nice to me? Like I appreciate it endlessly but won't people mock you for helping a Sky Girl?"

\- "I think the alliance is good for all of us, we need to learn to work and live together because you are not going up to the sky again, right?"

\- "I'm guessing not." –I smiled- "Thank you, Sheda."

\- "Let's see if you are as much of a fast learner building weapons as you are using them."

\- "I'd hope so."

\- "Once we've made a couple of them I wanna see you shoot them, so we'll go out to hunt."

\- "Finally, some action!" –I laughed.

\- "Where's your quiver?"

\- "It got lost somewhere along the past weeks."

\- "I got one, you can have it."

\- "Won't you need it?"

\- "Trust me." –he smiled sitting down- "I'm no good with the bow."

\- "Look at that, maybe I could teach you something now." –I mimicked him, laughing.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

Raven and I had spent some time coming up with a plan to follow while checking the intel given by Dante, the president of Mount Weather who, luckily, was on our side. I was now moving around the vents and tunnels and weird places of Mount Weather, following Raven's directions to find where the acid fog was kept and from where it was distributed to the ground.

\- "Talk to me, what do you see?"

\- "Close your eyes, imagine a bottomless pit."

\- "Just stick with it." –Raven commanded me through the radio- "According to Dante's coordinates you're almost there."

\- "What's happening on your end?" –I questioned- "Did they evacuate Tondc?"

\- "Don't know yet, but it's Clarke, she'll get it done. Just concentrate on squeezing your ass through the vents and stop worrying about your sister and your girlfriend."

As Raven's words floated to my ears I stopped moving, my breath caught in my chest.

\- "They are in Tondc?" –I asked with a shaky voice- "They're both there?"- she didn't answer- "Raven."

\- "They're gonna be okay." –Raven finally spoke- "Clarke fired out of here, she's gonna get there on time."

\- "How could you keep this from me?" -I asked in disbelief, especially knowing how much Raven cared about Sam.

\- "Clarke was trying to protect you."

_Me? Or her plan?_

\- "Listen, you still have a job to do." –Raven kept talking- "I'm worried about them too but you have to focus, Bellamy."

I sighed, knowing she was right. I had to put my feelings to the side and do my part and, by the time this was done, hope that the two most important people in my life were still alive.

\- "Let's just get this done."

**SAM'S POV**

Making arrows turned out to be a fun experience and, once we had around 20 and with a few not very well-made ones by me, Sheda decided it was time to try them out. He left to find his quiver while I finished my last one.

\- "Alright, time to see how these fly." –Sheda appeared behind me- "Place them here and follow me."

\- "Thank you again, Sheda."

\- "Thank me if the arrows fly."

I laughed while putting on the quiver with the arrows and following him into the woods. It was almost nighttime so instead of haunting, Sheda chose to put a target on a tree for me to shoot at.

\- "Alright, try one of the first you made."

\- "But those are not..."

\- "Just to see where they go, for fun."

\- "Well, then move behind me, I don't wanna hit you accidentally because you made me fire an unusable arrow."

\- "That'd teach you not to waste resources." –he grinned.

\- "Oh, come on, it was my first attempt!"

\- "Still." –he smiled- "Shoot."

I rolled my eyes and placed one of the truly tragically built arrows on my bow and pointed it at the target, even if I was sure it'd go sideways. I let go of the bow's string and the arrow flew away from us in a rather funny way making me laugh.

\- "I knew it was horrible but I didn't expect it to be this bad." –I moved towards where the arrow had fallen.

It had flown no more than a couple meters to the left and had broken when it hit the ground.

\- "Well now this is a tragic sight, isn't it?" –I returned to Sheda's side and handed him the broken arrow.

\- "Try now with one of mine."

\- "You wanna brag about how yours won't break?" –I raised my eyebrow at him.

\- "I hope it won't break or else I taught you the wrong way of making arrows."

\- "That would have been a waste of both our time."

I moved to my original place again, this time shooting one of his arrows and, of course, this one did land on the target, flying straight into it.

\- "Now, that's a good arrow right there. Good job, Sheda."

\- "And that was a pretty decent shot, Samantha."

\- "Decent? More like splendid, but I'll take it."

\- "We'll see how you do tomorrow with a moving target. We should go back now."

\- "Lead the way."

We were walking back to the village when a light in the sky flew above us towards the village.  _Octavia._


	16. "Now we go to war"

**SAM'S POV**

The explosion sent Sheda and I flying backward, falling onto the ground a couple meters away. The next thing I remember were my ears killing me. I moved my head to the side to see Sheda lying on his back a few meters away from me.

\- "Sheda!" –I yelled- "Sheda are you alright?"

I crawled up next to him, it was like everything was in slow motion, my head spinning as I checked his breathing: he was alive.

\- "Sheda, please say something!"

\- "I can barely hear you." –he yelled back.

\- "You'll be fine in a couple minutes." –I paused- "I think. Are you hurt?"

\- "I'm fine, I'm fine. Are you okay?" –he scanned my body as he sat back up.

\- "Yeah." –I looked towards the village- "Fuck, Octavia!" –I stood up as fast as I could- "Octavia!" –I yelled- "Please, no." –I whispered.

\- "Who's Octavia?" –Sheda questioned confused, standing up next to me.

\- "My sister, she was with Indra in the village, I...I can't... I need to find her." –I shuddered trying to calm my breathing.

\- "I'll help you." –Sheda placed his hand on my shoulder- "We have to find Heda, Oreth, and Ion too."

I nodded as I felt the tears forming in my eyes but I wiped them away with my hands and started moving towards the village.  _If Octavia is dead, someone will pay this with their life._  Once we made it back, everything was in ruins, a wreckage; people were screaming for help, burnt bodies on the ground everywhere and even fragments from others, the smell only could make you sick.

\- "We'll find them." –Sheda reaffirmed me.

\- "We will. And after that, I will slit the throat of whoever did this."

I started walking around, trying to find Octavia, screaming her name but receiving no answer. I clenched my fists on each side of my body and I moved around the ruins, the bodies and the fire. Sheda moved in another direction screaming for Ion and Oreth, as we both agreed it'd be better and we'd cover more ground faster.

\- "Octavia, please, answer me!" –I yelled again.

\- "Sam? Oh my God, Sam!" –Octavia appeared from behind some ruins.

\- "O!" –I screamed as the tears started running down my face- "I thought I lost you."

\- "I was so scared..." –she hugged me and I did the same- "...I thought you were dead."

\- "How?"

\- "I was outside the village standing watch with the other seconds. You?"

\- "I was practicing target shooting with Sheda." –I broke the hug to look at her, caressing her cheeks with my thumbs- "I haven't been more scared in my whole life, O."

\- "Me neither."

\- "Have you seen Oreth and Ion?"

\- "No. Have you seen Indra?"

\- "No. But we'll find them, I promise."

Octavia hugged me again and I smiled, my heart at ease again.

\- "There's someone here! Help me!"

\- "Is that? –I questioned, looking at Octavia.

\- "Yes." –Octavia smiled at me before turning around and I followed her.

\- "I know it's most definitely not the time for a happy reunion but I'm so glad you're back with us Lincoln."

\- "I'm glad you're alive, Sam. We thought..." –he looked down.

\- "It's fine, let's help whoever is down there."

I moved opposite to where Lincoln was and the both of us started lifting the rock, slowly but surely.

\- "Do you hear someone?" –I heard Abbie's voice and Octavia moved to her.

 _Clarke, damn, we need to find her too._  Lincoln and I tossed the rock to one side and a face was revealed.

\- "Indra!" –I screamed.

Lincoln started to pull other rocks to the side so that we could take Indra out of there while Abbie and Octavia came back next to us.

\- "Indra, you're gonna be fine, we got you." –I kneeled next to her.

\- "These rocks are too heavy." –Lincoln looked at me- "I'm gonna have to pull her off."

I nodded and looked at Indra.

\- "Take a deep breath Indra, this will hurt."

She did as I told her and Lincoln pulled her out of the whole she was in but, as soon as he got her out, she started moving.

\- "Sen ai daun, Ripa!" [Put me down, Reaper!]

She then stood up as Octavia and I looked at her. Indra was looking around when a gunshot was heard and she fell to the ground.

\- "Are you fucking kidding me!?" –I yelled as we all threw ourselves to the ground.

\- "We need cover." –Octavia spoke.

\- "That way, go!"

Lincoln pointed behind Octavia and we all started moving to cover ourselves from the gunfire. Lincoln carried Indra behind some barrels while Octavia and I found cover behind some wreckage. Nyko had found cover next to us and was looking at Indra, who was bleeding.

\- "Lincoln!" –he shouted- "You must stop the bleeding."

Lincoln moved his hand to put pressure over Indra's wound but she didn't allow him.

\- "Indra, let me help you."

\- "No."

I looked at Octavia who was looking over at Indra, concern in her eyes.

\- "We are trapped." –Octavia spoke.

\- "We need to get the shooter down." –I told her- "I hope Sheda is alive." –I whispered more to myself than anything else.

\- "I say we use the Sky Girls to draw fire." –one of the other seconds said looking at us.

\- "You got a problem?" –Octavia faced him.

\- "Yeah. You are the bringers of death."

\- "Well then don't piss me off or you may very well be the next one." –I retorted threateningly.

\- "Sam..."

\- "What? He had it coming." –I shrugged my shoulders- "If they don't wanna help, then we will have to get rid of the shooter on our own, you know that."

\- "There's someone here!" –Abbie shouted suddenly.

She was moving some rocks behind her and a metal sound could be heard. She tried to get through the existing hole but a failed gunshot aimed at her made her move backward.

\- "I gotta get down there." –she looked at us.

\- "We need a distraction."

Suddenly, a Grounder started moving around the ruins, trying to escape and moving in zig-zags, making it harder for the shooter to hit him.  _Clever. That'd do._  Lincoln took that opportunity to take Indra over his shoulder and started running in our direction.

\- "Octavia, Sam, come on."

Octavia nodded and moved behind him and I followed; we somehow made it to where Nyko and other Grounders were, well covered by a lot of wreckage. Lincoln put Indra down and Nyko immediately started taking care of her.

\- "What are we gonna do?" –a Grounder asked- "We can't move."

\- "I'm going for the shooter." –Lincoln was quick to answer- "I'll sound the horn when it's done."

\- "Alright my friend." –Nyko told him before getting back to Indra.

\- "I'm going with you." –Octavia moved beside him.

\- "No. Nyko needs you here."

\- "And you need help, Lincoln." –I argued back- "I'll go with you."

\- "Sam..."

\- "Nyko doesn't need me and you are Indra's second, O. I have to make sure the asshole shooting didn't kill Sheda, and if he did, I'm going to kill him myself."

Octavia looked at me, at Lincoln and finally nodded.

\- "Don't worry, I'll take care of your man, although he's hard to get rid of."

\- "Just like you." –Lincoln gave a small smile.

\- "Yeah, maybe that's why we get along so well."

\- "Follow me and stay down."

\- "You got it."

I looked at Indra and Nyko one last time before moving right behind Lincoln. We knew it would probably take us all night to get to the shooter but Lincoln knew the woods like the palm of his hand, which meant we could save some time and take cover all the time.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

Raven was now guiding me through the process to irradiate level 5 with the instructions President Wallace had given us; we had to get the air from outside, inside, reversing the air-filtration system that way.

\- "How do we know if this is even working?"

An alarm started sounding while a robotics' woman voice announced there was a containment breach.  _Huh._

\- "I'd say it's working." –Raven chuckle on my earpiece.

\- "Thank you, Mr. President."

\- "Now get out of there before someone finds you."

I made my way back to the corridors of Mount Weather where Maya was looking for me.

\- "They've taken another one of your friends."

\- "Show me."

Maya guided me through the hallways until I heard someone screaming.  _That's Fox. We need to help her._  The screams were coming from an open door at the end of a corridor. I made a sign for Maya to stay behind while I walked towards the noise; when I got there, Fox had gotten rid of the two men and was running towards the door, followed by both of them. When she saw me, she froze. I pointed my gun at her and she placed her hands in the air in surrender and started to move back against the wall. I quickly moved the gun and shot both men before taking off the helmet.

\- "Bellamy!" –Fox's voice was trembling and she quickly ran to hug me.

\- "You okay?"

She didn't answer but instead she started sobbing and crying so I hug her tightly, letting her know everything was okay now. Maya came inside the room and looked at us and the two dead men.

\- "Come on, we have to get her someplace safe."

I nodded and let go of Fox, as we walked away from that place, closing the door. Maya guided us to her house, agreeing Fox would be safer there for there was no reason for anyone to look for her there. However, once we got there, there was someone inside.

\- "Dad, you're home."

\- "Yeah, drill bit broke again."

Fox followed Maya inside and I closed the door as Maya's father rose from the sofa he was lying on when he saw us.

\- "What are they doing here?"

\- "Look, they're in trouble." –Maya explained to him- "We just need someplace safe to stay."

\- "They need to go, now."

\- "Let me explain."

\- "Why don't you explain where you got that uniform from." –he looked at me before continuing- "Maya, you know how dangerous this is. What are you doing?"

\- "What Mom would've done." –Maya was clear with her intentions and her father sighed.

\- "I need you to leave." –he said looking at me.

\- "Sorry, we can't do that." –I answered.

\- "That's okay, he's gonna help us." –Maya told me.

\- "Really?" –I questioned- "Because I'm not getting that."

\- "My parents were part of a movement that was against using outsider blood." –she spoke and turned to face her father- "My mom refused the treatments and it killed her. She was willing to die for what she believed in."

\- "Maya, you were 5." –his father argued softly- "I couldn't leave you alone."

\- "I'm not a little girl anymore."

\- "They were willing to kill you. If you get caught..."

\- "We won't if you help us." –Maya interrupted him.

\- "Please." –Fox pleaded beside me- "They're killing us. We don't have anywhere else to go."

I was looking at the scene in front of me half worried half moved; Maya was willing to risk her life for us, people she barely knew. She reminded me of Sam.  _They'd be good friends. If Sam's still alive..._

\- "Just this once, just for one night." –Maya's father's words pulled me out of my thoughts, thankfully.

Maya smiled gratefully and took Fox with her to the bedroom and I moved to follow them after thanking him, but he stopped me.

\- "You know they'll never stop, right? If the rumors are true and your bone marrow can get us back to the ground, they'll never stop."

I nodded, knowing he was right, but I couldn't afford to think about that right now; first, I needed to get everyone out of this mountain and then we'd worry about they coming back for us, although they wouldn't have many options now that we knew they're coming for us, so avoiding them would be easier.

**SAM'S POV**

It had been probably a couple hours when I heard branches crushing somewhere near us; Lincoln noticed too and got down.

\- "You think the shooter got help?" –I whispered taking my knives out.

\- "Could be." –Lincoln whispered back as he scrutinized our surroundings- "It can't be." –he mumbled getting up and moving towards the noise.

\- "Lincoln."

 _Clarke? Wait, what? How?_  Hearing her voice out here confused me.

\- "Clarke." –Lincoln's voice denoted the same emotions I felt- "Commander, what...?"

Lexa appeared from behind Clarke and I moved beside Lincoln.

\- "Sam? You're alive!" –Clarke's voice sounded relieved.

\- "Well, yeah. Not because they didn't try, though... but, what are you both doing out here?" –I questioned, suspicious- "How are you alive?"

\- "Yeah, Octavia said you were..." –Lincoln was speaking when Clarke cut him.

\- "You've seen Octavia?"

\- "Yeah, she's alive too." –I answered and Clarke sighed, relieved.

_There's must be something I'm not seeing here._

\- "The few that survived the explosion are being pinned down by a sniper. Sam and I are on our way to take him down."

As if on cue, more gunshots were heard as Lincoln explained the situation.

\- "Come on, we need to get to the high ground." –Lexa started moving.

I looked at Clarke trying to depicter how this was even possible; she looked at me and started to move after Lexa. Lincoln was probably thinking the same for he looked after them before making me a sign to follow him. We kept walking for hours in silence; I was lost in thought to even mind the silence.  _How did the Mountain Men know we were here and why a missile? Did they find Bellamy? No, he'd never say anything about this, especially knowing Octavia was going to be here. He's too stubborn to get caught. But none of that explains how Lexa and Clarke escaped and why they looked like midnight criminals._  The sun was rising when we finally made it to high ground, which was an inconvenience for us since there were significantly fewer places to hide from the shooter. We kept walking when a bullet flew right in between Clarke and I, making the four of us cover behind a massive rock as the shooter shot again.

\- "So much for the element of surprise." –Lexa sighed looking at us.

\- "I'll draw his fire." –Lincoln offered.

\- "I'll help." –I stated and Lincoln nodded.

\- "No. I will." –Clarke argued quickly.

She then moved to the end of the rock and started shooting towards where the snipper was. I looked at Lincoln, who nodded and started moving a little to the left and I took that as my cue to run forward among the undergrowth, hoping Clarke would distract him long enough for at least one of us to make it behind the snipers' position to surprise him from behind. The gunshots stopped right before I could make sure I was out of the snipers' sight, so I threw myself to the ground, waiting for a sign. I heard the rustle of leaves from someone walking a couple meters in front of me and I prepared my knives. As I was carefully tilting my head to see who it was, I heard Lincoln grunting and his sword colliding with something metallic.  _He's got him. Yes, that's my bro._  I quickly rose up from the ground to see a man in full camouflage gear fighting Lincoln back, which I considered ironic looking at the difference in between both men; Lincoln pinned him to the ground and got his knife out ready to kill the man when he used a Reaper Repellent, making Lincoln fall back in pain.  _Oh, hell to the no._  As Lincoln fell to the side, the snipper got rid of him and tried to strangle him, putting a knife to Lincolns throat. I moved fast enough to get behind him without him noticing when Clarke appeared in front of us.

\- "Drop the weapon." –the snipper told her.

\- "Just let him kill me, then take him out." –Lincoln spoke and I had to stop myself from saying something to him when he spoke again- "Clarke, please."

Before Clarke could answer I placed my knife in the snipper's neck that was showing from below his helmet, making him scream in pain while letting go of Lincoln and falling to the ground, covering his wound.

\- "Sam!" –Clarke yelled- "What are you doing?"

\- "I don't know... saving my friend?" –I shrugged my shoulders- "Getting revenge."

\- "I had it." –Clarke argued, she was pissed and I didn't get why.

\- "Oh yeah, what were you going to do? Kill Lincoln?" –I retorted sarcastically- "If so, you need to get your priorities straight, princess."

\- "I had to do it." –her voice was almost a whisper.

\- "You wanna kill him?" –I asked her and I saw a glimpse of a plea in her eyes- "He's still breathing, go ahead, end him." -I pointed at the man lying on the ground.

\- "Clarke, no." –Lexa spoke next to Clarke.

Clarke ignored her and moved next to me, looking down at the snipper; she pointed her gun at him and shot him, putting an end to his suffering.

\- "Let's go back." –I placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder and looked at Lincoln- "I need to find my friends."

Lincoln nodded and started walking back to the village as I followed him. Lexa moved to Clarke and I heard her ask whether she felt better after killing him, Clarke answering no. I knew something was still missing, but my priority now was getting back to the village and finding Sheda, Oreth, and Ion and making sure O was still alive.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After leaving Fox safe with Maya's father, we both started working again on a plan to get our friends out of the room they had been confined at.

\- "Lovejoy's key card will get you in the armory. The guns are locked but the guard has the key; I can lure him away if you..."

\- "No, there's no time." –I cut her off- "Once I get the guns how do I get to level 5? They are watching every door."

\- "Maybe not." –Maya stopped walking- "The mess hall has a trash chute."

\- "A trash chute?"

\- "There's one on every level. Best part? No radiation alarms. The hatches leak like crazy so they put in these airlocks just to be safe." –she explained to me and I was glad she was on our side.

\- "You're a natural-born revolutionary."

\- "My mom was the revolutionary, I'm just trying to do what I think is right."

\- "Meet back here in 30 minutes."

I left Maya and started walking towards the armory following Maya's instructions. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes when I caught a conversation on my walkie.

\- "This is President Wallace talking to the people who killed 10 of my men; I thought we'd try something a little different this time: there's only 20 minutes of oxygen in Maya's suit and I know she's a friend of yours. In 20 minutes, your friend will either suffocate or burn, but you can save her; all you have to do is surrender."

 _Fuck._ I started moving back already with a plan in mind to save Maya. I assumed they would bring her to where my friends were so I chose to get there using Maya's plan for the guns. I found the trash cute in Level 3 and climbed inside it, making my way down to Level 5 as fast as I could. Once I got there, I could hear Monty, Jasper, Harper and Miller's voices, as if they were trying to open the door but couldn't so I started kicking it as hard as I could with the space that I had, getting it open after some failed trials.

\- "Bellamy!" –Monty said my name, surprised it was me there.

\- "Get her in here." –I looked at Maya- "Come on."

\- "Go, go, go." –Jasper screamed.

I got Maya's hand and pulled her in with me, both of us falling down as the hatch closed behind. Once we hit the floor, I realized Jasper had come with us; he quickly moved up to Maya and took her helmet off, allowing her to breathe, and hugged her tightly. The door from the room we had ended up in opened, revealing Vincent -Maya's father-, to whom I had explained my plan previously.

\- "Dad?" –Maya run up to him- "What are you doing here?"

\- "What your mother would have done." –he hugged her.

Jasper smiled looking at them and then faced me and started chuckling as he came to hug me.

\- "Hey, listen to me." –I started as we broke the hug- "Clarke is coming with an army of Grounders."

\- "What?"

\- "We have to keep all of you safe until then."

\- "Don't tell me Finn finally got his peace talks."

I was caught out of guard for a second.  _It's true, they don't know anything that's been going on outside this mountain._  I sighed.

\- "Yeah, something like that." –I decided to leave the subject for another time- "Come on, we have a lot of work to do."

 _The less they know now, the more focus they'll be._  I was starting to sound like Clarke.  _No, but this is different._  I shock my head.  _Finn was nothing to them and Octavia and Sam are my family; it's not the same._  I clenched my fists at the sides of my body.  _I hope they are still alive. Both of them._

**SAM'S POV**

It was nighttime when we finally made it to the village, people from the Ark where there and some survivors had been rescued. As soon as we got there and Octavia saw us, her eyes sparkled as she moved towards us.

\- "I'll leave you both to it." –I smiled to Lincoln who chuckled softly.

\- "Thank you, Sam." –he hugged me and as I gave him a questioning look as we moved apart- "For coming with me."

\- "Whenever you need me, big bro." –I smiled- "I'm gonna find Sheda and hopefully Oreth and Ion."

\- "Good luck."

Octavia hugged me tightly for a second and then moved towards Lincoln.  _Cute._ I looked around, fearing the worst by now.  _At least Sheda has to be alive, that snipper can't have killed him._  I sighed as I moved around the ruins, checking the people and the bodies, not finding any of my friends.

\- "Samantha!"

I vaguely heard my name as I was focused on my thoughts and not breaking a foot while walking around.

\- "Samantha, it's me!"

I turned my face towards the voice.  _Sheda._  I ran up to him, almost falling twice and hugging him as I got next to him.

\- "Well now, this is new." –Sheda chuckled hugging me back.

\- "Sorry." –I quickly apologized letting go of him- "I thought for a second the sniper got you and I was ready to start a war of my own."

\- "I found cover as soon as the gunshots started. We all quickly learned that you and Lincoln had gone to get him and once we heard the horn we all breathed again, so thank you."

\- "I'm so happy you're alright."

\- "I've met your sister, she's been leading us and helping everyone since the snipper was down."

\- "I take you approve."

\- "Wouldn't expect any less from Indra's second."

\- "I'm afraid to even ask... have you found Oreth and Ion?"

\- "Yeah..." –his voice went low and his eyes moved to the ground.

\- "Where?"

\- "Come with me."

I followed Sheda around until we got to a Grounder sat with their back to us and another lying on their lap.

\- "Ion? Oreth?" –I questioned moving next to them.

Ion looked up at me with teary eyes while he held Oreth; she was badly hurt and had her eyes closed, but her chest moving up and down showed me she was still alive. I kenneled next to them and took Ion's hand in mine, squeezing it. Then, I looked down at Oreth; I had known her for less time than Ion, but she had been so kind to me, seeing her like this made me angry and sad at the same time.

\- "Oreth, it's Sam. The snipper is down, we'll get you some help now."

\- "Samantha..." –Ion spoke- "She's not going to make it."

\- "But..."

\- "It's fine." –Oreth's voice was a whisper- "I'm glad you are alive."

\- "I'm so sorry, Oreth."

\- "I have faith you'll become the greatest warrior, Samantha."

\- "Call me Sam."

\- "Remember who you are and what you stand for, Sam." –she opened her eyes to look at me- "Don't let the world change you. I'm glad we got to meet."

\- "I promise you Oreth, they will pay for this. I will avenge you."

\- "Ai gonplei ste odon." –she closed her eyes and her head fell to the side after a moment.

A tear fell down my face as I placed my forehead against her chest. Sheda had kneeled beside me and placed a hand over my shoulders.

\- "Come on, Samantha. We need to help the others." –Ion spoke as he stood up.

I looked up at him and then at Sheda. They were both looking down at me and I knew they were feeling the same way I was, only probably worse. I straightened up my back as Sheda got up. I took off my jacket and covered Oreth's face and torso with it.

\- "In peace may you leave this shore, in love may you find the next, safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again, Oreth."

I sighed and stood up as the two Grounders looked at me, confused.

\- "It's what we say when one of us dies."

They both nodded in understanding.

\- "Now what?" –Ion questioned looking around.

\- "Now?" –I looked at him and then at the horizon- "Now we go to war."


	17. Don't be a hero.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a whole lot of a struggle, Bellamy attempts to take down the Acid Fog while Sam enrolls in Grounder traditions.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

With the help of Vincent we had come up with a plan to hide my people from the guards of the Mountain and, once we got them out of the room they had entrenched themselves in, we put it into practice.

\- "It's all clear."

\- "What is this?" –Monty worriedly asked me, looking at the cameras around us.

\- "Relax, Maya took those out."

\- "Well, we're still sitting ducks in a group of..."

\- "You're right." –I cut Miller off- "That's why we're gonna split up."

\- "No." –Monty was quick to answer, grabbing my arm and stopping me- "We do this together, we survive together."

\- "Bellamy's right." –Jasper argued.

\- "They don't trust Maya anymore, who the hell is gonna help us now?" –Miller questioned looking between the three of us.

\- "They are."

I tilted my head in the direction of Maya who was followed by a crowd of her people.

\- "We're going to hide you." –she spoke with power in her voice- "Not everyone here agrees with Cage, not by a long shot."

\- "Come with me." –Vincent started making signs for my people to follow them- "We'll divide you along the way."

I stood in the middle of the hallway as I saw the kids marching towards our allies, giving them reassuring looks as they walked past me. Monty and Jasper stayed behind with me.

\- "We're coming with you." –Jasper told me.

\- "No, you're not. They still don't know I'm here, I need to keep it that way."

\- "So..." –Monty faced me- "What do we do?"

\- "Stay alive and be ready to fight. War is coming."

**SAM'S POV**

We had camped just outside the limits of the veil zone to pass the night and until we got the signal from Raven that Bellamy and she had managed to get it down. After what happened at Tondc, Ion, Sheda, and I had been helping the injured as much as we could, before leaving with the army. I had found Octavia and now we were both sat in front of a fire and, as it turns out, we had the same questions.

\- "So, I've been doing a lot of thinking since you came back from taking down the snipper." –Octavia broke the silence- "How did you come across Clarke again?"

\- "Lincoln and I were marching towards high ground when we heard branches crushing next to us..." –I repeated the story for her- "...so, we stopped to check what it was and both Clarke and Lexa appeared out of nowhere, covered in fabrics as if to hide from someone... although that could have been to blend with their surroundings to take down the snipper." –I added pensively.

\- "And you actually believe that?" –Octavia asked with a sardonic tone.

\- "Well, I'm trying not to think about the other possible explanation because I don't need to become infuriated with them right now." –I confessed- "Although that'd explain why Abbie wasn't frantically looking for Clarke."

\- "So, we agree: they knew." –Octavia stated, leaving no room for discussion.

Not as if I was going to say anything because I did agree; still, I tried not to think about it but I knew one of us could have died because of it, just like Octavia did, and that wasn't helping. Clarke came out of Lexa's tent right that second and moved to sit in front of the fire, next to us.

\- "Everything okay?"

\- "You tell us." –Octavia looked at me and then at Clarke, choosing to confront her now- "We've been trying to figure out how you're still alive."

\- "What are you talking about?" –Clarke tried to sound confident but failed.

\- "I knew something was wrong when you almost didn't acknowledge me when you arrived at Tondc." –I looked up at her, following Octavia's cue.

\- "I saw you there before the missile hit." –Octavia argued- "And then you and Lexa disappear and just happen to survive?"

\- "Not to mention how weird you acted when you found out Octavia and I were alive, as if guilt had been eating you alive."

\- "Tell me you didn't know it was coming."

Clarke looked to the ground and shook her head before sighing and speaking.

\- "Octavia, Sam..."

The words died in her mouth and that was the only confirmation we needed.

\- "You let all those people die." –Octavia stood up enraged- "You were gonna let me die! You were gonna let Sam die!"

\- "O, wait." –I stood up next to her, not wanting to start a fight in the middle of a war.

\- "Hey, I did it to save Bellamy." –Clarke explained to her, before glancing at me- "So that we could win this war. If we'd evacuated Tondc, Mount Weather would've known that someone tipped us off: they would have found him."

\- "No, Bellamy would have never told you to do that."

\- "But it's what needed to be done, wasn't it?" –I looked at Clarke, knowing fully well by now how her mind worked, guessing she'd have managed to convince him some way.

\- "How can you say that?" –Octavia looked at me, she was pissed- "Bellamy would have found another way and you know it."

\- "I couldn't take that risk." –Clarke interrupted her.

\- "Wait a second." –I stopped Clarke- "So, the problem wasn't that there wasn't another way to deal with it, but that your man inside did as you told him."

\- "Did he even know we were there?"

Clarke turned her face to Octavia and lightly shook her head in denial, almost as if her head was trying not to tell us but her body couldn't hide the truth any longer.

\- "I see." –Octavia spoke again- "Now that you're in charge thanks to the Commander, you get to decide who's disposable. You'd have fit right in on the Council."

She ended with a bitter tone and started moving away from us.

\- "Hey, Octavia..." –Clarke moved to catch up with her as I looked at them.

\- "What?"

\- "You can't tell anyone." –she turned to look at me as I walked up to them- "None of you."

\- "Yeah, cause if the truth came out..." –I started, looking at Octavia.

\- "The alliance would break." – Octavia ended for me- "We aren't stupid, Clarke."

\- "Your secret is safe with us."

I spoke as Lexa came out of her tent, looking at us.

\- "Commander." –Octavia was the first to speak.

\- "Octavia."

\- "It's time for the southernmost guard post rotation, you should relieve them." –Ryder, the Grounder accompanying Lexa, told her.

\- "Indra expects me to be on the scouting mission."

\- "I'll go." –I offered stepping next to Octavia.

\- "No." –Ryder quickly opposed- "Octavia is needed at the guard post; Indra will join her there shortly. In the meantime, you can go check the westernmost post."

Octavia and I looked at Lexa, who simply nodded. Octavia said goodbye to me and left us to go to her new assigned position. Once she was far enough not to hear me, I spoke.

\- "If any of you hurt her, I will kill you." –I made sure to make eye contact with the three of them- "Any of you."

Not expecting an answer, I left towards the westernmost post.  _I can't wait for this war to be over._  I found Sheda and Ion on my way there and, luckily, they joined me.

\- "So, we've been thinking." –Sheda started once we were in position.

\- "About...?" –I turned my face to see him.

\- "Well, first of all, you can't go to war like that." –Ion spoke now- "I haven't been training you to beat all of us just to show up..." –he moved his hands to point at my whole outfit.

\- "What do you mean 'like that', huh?" –I faced him- "Don't you like my dirty, broken Sky Girl clothes now or what?" –I laughed.

\- "I don't, but I didn't just mean that."

\- "Do enlighten me, please."

\- "Your face is missing something." –Sheda explained.

\- "Warpaint. And if we find you clothes, you'll put them on." –Ion added.

\- "Alright, I won't oppose to those terms." –I chuckled- "You are the teachers after all."

\- "There's something else." –Sheda went on making gestures to Ion.

\- "Oreth wanted you to have this."

Ion handed me something wrapped in a cloth and I opened it as both males looked at me.  _Her blade._  I took it out of the package and it shone with the moonlight.

\- "Didn't she have any family that may want this?" –I curiously asked as I inspected the blade.

\- "Oreth's parents died years ago and she was an only child."

\- "I see..." –I uttered- "I will take care of this with my life. It's an honor she even thought of me, honestly... They'll pay for what they did."

After a couple minutes of solemn silence, Sheda moved next to me and took something that looked like a crayon out of one of his pockets.

\- "Now, sit still."

I nodded and sat down, leaning my back against a tree. Sheda kneeled in front of me and motioned for me to close my eyes; soon after, I felt the soft brush of the creamy paint on my skin.

\- "Now you are really one of us." –Ion chuckled and I tried to fight back a smile.

\- "Don't make her laugh nor move." –Sheda scolded him- "I'm trying to make her look threatening, not laughable."

\- "Alright, alright."

Once Sheda was content with his job he allowed me to open my eyes and I saw him scrutinizing my face.

\- "Stop doing that, you'll manage to find imperfections in my face that not even I am aware of." –I laughed pushing him back lightly.

\- "Actually, I was admiring my job not your face, Samantha."

\- "Call me Sam, alright? Both of you. We're friends now."

\- "I didn't know the ferocious Samantha had friends." –Ion chuckled and I shot him a deadly glare.

\- "Should I not trust you? Is that what you're trying to say?" –I faced him, rising up from the ground.

\- "I believe you don't need more enemies, Sam." –Ion grinned- "But I must say, you look rather intimidating with that black paint on your face."

\- "Well, compliment the artist then." –I grinned pointing at Sheda.

\- "The spirit makes the warrior, not the warpaint." –Sheda argued quickly.

\- "But it helps, doesn't it?" –I raised an eyebrow at him.

The three of us laughed in agreement, then, Sheda painted Ion's face and Ion painted Sheda's; looking at them I thought I was glad we were on the same side because knowing what they could do and with that paint on their faces they sure looked rather terrifying; that is until Sheda smiled at me and he looked like a kid out of place. We remained in that same spot the whole night, two of us watching the woods while the other slept for an hour or so until the sunrise appeared in the horizon and a new team came to relieve us.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After a failed attempt to get to the origin of the acid fog and having been persecuted by a couple guards, I got out of there as fast as I could and made my way back to Vincent's, being as careful as possible not to be seen; I knocked at the door as I kept checking both sides of the hallway, impatiently waiting for the door to open.

\- "Vincent." –I whispered as the door opened- "I need your help."

He quickly opened the door fully for me to enter and closed it as fast as he had opened it.

\- "It's all over the radio." –he started- "They know about you. Anyone see you come here?"

\- "No, I've been keeping in the vents and unmonitored halls like you said."

\- "Vincent."

A man's voice came from behind me and I quickly turned around, only to be faced with a Mountain guard. I took my gun out of its sleeve and pointed it at him.

\- "It's okay!" –Vincent was quick to raise his hand up to me, motioning for me to stop- "Lee is with us."

\- "Dante was like a father to me." –Lee spoke, his hands up in the air- "Some of us don't agree with Cage's agenda."

\- "Where's Jasper, Monty, and Maya?" –I asked, seeing he had come from the bedroom and my friends weren't there.

\- "They're okay." –Vincent soothed me- "Thanks to Lee, we moved them to a wing that's already been searched."

\- "Isn't that a risk?" –I looked at him, lowering my gun.

\- "We had no choice. They've gone public with what happened on Level 5; they're saying you killed 10 soldiers." –he informed me and I took a deep breath, trying to control myself- "I don't know how much longer we can keep this shell game going. Did you take out the acid fog yet?"

\- "No, that's why I'm here." –I confessed- "I'm gonna need another route."

\- "Way ahead of you." –Vincent moved to his table and took out some layouts of the Mountain- "You can get there through the retrofit zones. They're off-limits." –I nodded as he kept explaining- "No cameras, no patrols. We used some to move the kids." – _seems like a good plan to me-_  "That's your other route. You'll also need this: an acetylene torch."

I took it, questioning why would I need something like that while Vincent kept explaining me his plan until I understood why I needed the torch: to make my way through the tunnels by aiming it at the welded doors and grates. Once I had it all memorized and clear in my mind, I left Vincent and Lee there and made my way through the conducts and tunnels and unused places Vincent showed me. As I got rid of the last grate and placed it on the ground, careful not to make much noise just in case, I saw a sign that read "chemical storage" and I knew I had finally found it.  _Took long enough._  The place and the storage were bigger than I could have thought, so first I inspected the room to make sure I was inside alone; I also blocked the only door that gave access to it, to make sure no one could catch me off guard.

\- "Come in, Raven." –I spoke on my earpiece as I finished searching the room- "I made it. I hope you have a plan."

After that, and learning someone named Wick was with her to help her figure it all out, I proceeded to explain them all I could see, reading labels and giving a couple metaphors for them to understand how big this place was and, therefore, the amount of acid fog these people could generate. I found a monitor that seemed to get the attention of Wick.

\- "If that monitor is a control panel, we can use it to kill this thing." –Wick spoke on the radio;  _that's the type of news I want to hear_ \- "Look for a pH scale."

\- "Alright." –I looked at the monitor- "There's a scale but the rest...uh...S3, V2, O5... Can't I just blow this thing?" –I asked frustrated for I didn't understand anything on the screen.

\- "No, they'll know their defenses are down and they'll send a tech to fix it, reroute it or pull out some other weapon we don't even know about."

\- "Plus, you'd probably melt your face off." –Raven remarked and I sighed.  _Great_ \- "Look, you know I like a good explosion but we gotta think our way through this one. We can do this."

I nodded in agreement.  _It's not only that we can do it but we have to do or else we would all die, me the first one probably._  I started reading them all I could see on the monitor and we went through the different menus I could find together, but nothing seemed of help and I was beginning to think this was useless.

\- "Do you see an actuator anywhere?"

\- "I have no idea what that is, Raven."

\- "Come on, what else?"

\- "Internal pressure sensor."

\- "No."

\- "Set point and alarm."

\- "Let's avoid that one."

\- "Maintenance and cleaning."

It took Wick a minute to answer me back, so I thought they had come up with something.

\- "Bellamy, go to that subdirectory and see if there's anything there that says 'passivation'."

\- "Okay, I'm on it." –I started reading through the categories that popped up- "I got it." –I clicked on it and a pH measuring device appeared on the screen with a needle pointing at the number 0- "It says, 'Aqueous sodium hydroxide bath'."

\- "That's a base, that'll neutralize the acid. Select that."

I pressed the 'proceed' button and a message showed 'passivation in progress' as noises started to be heard near the acid containers.

\- "It's doing something."

\- "You should be able to hear the pump."

\- "Yeah, I can hear them." –I glanced at the monitor- "The needle's moving, the pH is rising."

\- "It's working." –Wick informed me.

Once the needle reached number 7, the machine stopped and a message popped up as the machines stopped.

\- "Passivation successful." –I informed Raven and Wick, grinning.

_Finally._

\- "Yes!" –both Raven and Wick's voices came in through my earpiece.

I sighed in relief.  _Finally, good news. Now we are almost done and we will all be able to come back home soon and, hopefully, everyone is still alive._  I moved back to leave the room same way I had come in when something in the side of one of the containers caught my attention.  _Another pH level marker, huh._  It was covered in dirt so I was surprised I even saw it; I cleaned the dirt only to find that this needle was still on zero.  _It can't be, fuck, fuck, fuck._  I ran back to the monitor but this one still marked number 7.

\- "Raven!" –I panicked into my earpiece- "We've got a problem."

No answer.

\- "Damn it, where are you? I don't think the acid fog is down. Get word to Clarke, we have to stop the army." –still, no answer- "Raven!"

 _All alone to fix this, great._  I couldn't afford to panic, not just yet, I still had a job to do. Suddenly, the panel in front of me started moving and the needle went back to its original position, indicating a pH of 0. _They tricked us, it's the only explanation; they know I'm here._  An alarm started blaring at the same time the lightning became yellow.  _Well, that can't be good._  As I was looking around, loud bangs started to come from the door I had previously blocked; they were coming after me and I had to think fast. I turned around and saw an oxygen container.  _Let's hope this works._  The door opened and guards started coming in.

\- "Drop your weapon!"

The first guard to come in screamed at me as he, himself, held a gun and pointed it at me.  _The irony._ I started running towards the oxygen container, hiding behind it and praying to all the gods I knew that this would work.

\- "On my lead." –I heard one guard say- "He's armed. Don't be a hero, show yourself." –he spoke now to me- "Hands first."

I had the air vent I had used to get here a few meters away from me, so with all the courage and velocity I could possibly summon my body to achieve, I made a run for it. As soon as I was out of cover, the guards started shooting at me; luckily, none of them managed to hit me just yet, so I made it to the air vent and jumped inside.

\- "Cease fire!" –the guard from before screamed- "Don't hit the tanks."

I started moving forward through the vent as fast as I could, only stopping as I heard the guards approaching, so I turned to face them and shot at them as soon as I saw their faces through the vent, making them move away. However, I run out of bullets fast and I knew I had to keep moving, and so, I did. One of the guards started following me but I had no time to stop and fight if I wanted to live; I was just about to get to a ventilation shaft when I heard the explosion behind me and felt its blast on my body; I was running out of time. The guard that was following me started screaming, the fire had reached him and it would soon reach me as I was a meter away from the big opening in the vent. The blast sent me forward as the fire reached me and I ended up collapsing on the floor of the shaft. I curled up against the wall below where I had come from to cover myself from the flames; I started coughing as the fire extinguished and the ashes floated around me: I was still alive. _I'm never doing that again._


	18. Here we are.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Bellamy managed to get rid of the acid fog, the army of Grounders and Sky People marches towards Mount Weather.

**SAM'S POV**

As we made it back to the camp we heard a noise similar to the missile one, as if something were flying somewhere in the distance. The three of us turned around to check what it was, looking at the sky on the horizon.

\- "The flare!" –I almost whispered.

\- "Your inside man did his job, now we can kick some ass." –Ion spoke cheerfully next to me.

\- "Bellamy's alive; he did it." –I couldn't handle my excitement as I spoke to myself- "I need to find my sister." –I quickly apologized and started running around camp.

The Grounders around me started shouting in excitement and I cheered with them, gaining some approving looks from a couple of them.  _Maybe now things with the Grounders will be easier, as it should have been from the beginning_. I could faintly hear Lexa's voice in the distance, but I was too far away to actually understand anything she was saying, although it was most definitely some speech about how the Mountain Men were going to pay for the missile and the Reapers' thing. I finally distinguished Indra in the distance.  _If someone knows where O could be, that's Indra._  I approached her but, before I could reach her, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

\- "He's alive!" –I shouted as I found Sam walking around.

\- "I was looking for you just to say that; guess you were faster this time." –she chuckled.

\- "You know what that means?"

\- "That, as usual, he came through and now we get to kill whoever launched that missile." –she smoothly raised her eyebrow at me.

\- "Your boyfriend is alive and all you are thinking of is killing someone?" –I laughed.

\- "Your brother is alive and all you can think of is setting us up and calling him my boyfriend?" –she retorted back at me.

I smirked at Sam and punched her lightly in the upper arm as we both laughed.

\- "God, I'm so glad he's alive." –Sam sounded so relieved, I couldn't wait to see the reunion- "I already threatened Clarke once, I don't think Lexa would appreciate it if I did it again."

\- "I think that won't be necessary just yet." –I smiled remembering the look on Clarke's face- "Also, I love your new look." –I pointed out the paint on her face.

\- "Thank you, haven't seen it myself, but if you like it, then Sheda did a good job."

After that, we moved back to gather our stuff from our tent. Sheda came by and handed Sam some clothes as she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, while I looked at their interaction.

\- "You can't go to war covered in that gross blanket or whatever that is. I know you used your jacket to cover Oreth so I brought you these; now put them on, you'll be coming with me."

Sheda left Sam hanging there, giving her no time to answer back as I started laughing, unable to keep it together any longer. She shot me a threatening look and I raised my hands in surrender while she inspected the clothes: a jacket made of different fabrics and something that looked like a corset where I assumed she could keep her knives. Once we were done and Sam was all dressed up, we got out of the tent as everyone started marching forward and so did we. For the most part Sam and I walked together, eventually finding Indra who nodded at us in approval. After walking for a while, the last person I wanted to see came into sight.

\- "Hey." –Clarke greeted us.

\- "What do you want?" –I asked her in a monotone voice.

\- "I'm changing both your missions; you're not going to the mines with Indra and you won't be first line with Lexa's warriors."

\- "Last time I checked we didn't take orders from you, Clarke." –Sam argued.

\- "I'm placing you both at the rear guard, where you'll be safe."

\- "You were ready to let us die two days ago, what changed?" –I pointed out.

\- "I'm trying to protect you."

\- "Protect us?" –I almost laughed, but I was getting madder by the second.

\- "We don't need protection, Clarke. What we need is to get close to that stupid mountain and save our people and both our positions are the best ways to do so, and that's what we are doing." –Sam was firm with her words- "I'll see you once this is over, O."

\- "Don't get killed. I mean it. I don't wanna have to deal with Bellamy mourning you." –I half-joked.

\- "Same goes to you. I love you, O."

With that and a smile only meant for me, Sam moved away from us to find Sheda and Ion. We weren't afraid of dying and loosing each other for this was a rescue mission but, still, I wished Sam would think things through before she did anything reckless, even if that wasn't very in line with how she usually moved. She had gotten more outspoken about her feelings, expressing them out loud for they were always crystal clear; I was sure it had to do with finding a family with me and Bellamy; that's all I wanted since we landed: Sam, Bellamy, and I, together. All the family I had and all the family I wanted, plus Lincoln, who had been obviously quickly accepted by Sam just like the big brother she deserved to have and whom Bellamy had slowly but surely started to see as family too; or at least I hoped he did. I was deep in these thoughts when Clarke spoke again.

\- "I hope one day you'll understand why I did what I did."

\- "Never. I'll fight this war with you now because I want our friends and my brother back but, after that, we're done."

Clarke looked at me, her eyes showed hurt but I couldn't care any less. At that moment, Indra came back to us and addressed Clarke.

\- "The Commander's looking for you."

Clarke nodded and gave me a final look after walking towards Lexa.

\- "What was that about?" –Indra had picked up on everything.

\- "Clarke was trying to reassign us to the rear guard."

\- "You're warriors. You'll be in the mines with me while Sam takes care of the entrance with Sheda and the others." –she made a pause and looked at me- "I know what bothers you: they knew about the missile."

\- "How could you not hate them?" –I questioned surprised- "Indra, they almost killed you."

\- "They didn't do anything, the enemy did. Lexa's a great commander because she's ruthless. That's how we'll win this battle."

\- "That's wrong."

\- "That's war."

She stated and gave me an unyielding look and walked faster, taking out her sword and pointing it to the sky while she let out a battle cry, quickly being followed by the people surrounding us, all yelling at the same time; I joined them.  _We're coming, big brother._

**BELLAMY'S POV**

After finally getting the acid fog down and recovering from the aftermath events, I managed to sneak in the harvest chamber to fulfill the promise I had made to the girl that helped me get rid of Lovejoy. As I got there and checked there were no guards inside, I took the keys to the cells that I had borrowed from one of the guards and walked up to her cage, opening it.

\- "Get up, it's time to go." –I offered her my hand to get out- "I told you I'd come back for you." –she took my hand and I helped her out- "Our people are marching on Mount Weather right now."

I let go of her and moved to open the next cage, but the Grounder inside was not so friendly and he kicked me away from him.

\- "Hey, it's okay." –I tried to calm him down- "We're getting you out."

\- "Slow down." –the girl pushed me back, away from the cage- "They just bled him."

\- "Listen to me." –I faced her- "There's an army inside this room and I need you to help me get them ready to fight, can you do that?" –I confronted her and she nodded- "Good. Start with him."

I left her with the other Grounder and moved up to the next cage to open it but, as I was going so, every Grounder on a cell started making noise and kicking their cells.

\- "Too much noise."

The girl walked past me and to the center of the room and started screaming at them in Trigedasleng making them all stop.  _Effective, thank you._

\- "Okay." –she was now next to me again- "How do we do this?"

\- "There's an army outside going for the main door. When they get it open all hell will break loose; that is the signal for my friends to come here and then..."

I was cut by the noise of the public-address system and the voice of a man through it, Wallace son: Cage. He was going to go public with what they were doing and what we had done to get out of here, also explaining that out bone marrow could get them all to the ground.  _Fuck, this isn't good._

\- "Here." –I gave the keys to the Grounder- "I'll be back."

\- "Where are you going?"

\- "He's trying to get his people to turn on each other. They'll find my friends. I have to bring them here now; I'll send them in groups. You get your people ready to go but wait for me to come back, you understand?"

\- "Wait." –she followed me to the entrance of the air vent- "Thank you."

\- "You free your people, protect mine when they get here. We can thank each other when we're all outside."

She nodded and I got inside the air vent as I kept hearing Cage's voice through the Mountain speakers.  _He's never going to stop, is he?_

**SAM'S POV**

Once I found Sheda, he explained to me that Ion had been assigned on another mission but that he had asked him to tell me to remember my training. Lincoln would come with us to the main door, which I appreciated since I didn't want him anywhere near the tunnels again. Once we were at the entrance of Mount Weather, a tent was built for the Commander and we had got together there to discuss the plan with all the Grounder generals, the Commander, Clarke and some people from the Ark.

\- "Welcome, Sky crew." –Lexa greeted Monroe, Sergeant Miller and some other guards who came inside the tent- "Join us."

\- "Package from Raven." –Sergeant Miller gave it to Clarke- "Hydrazine. She said it'd do the job."

\- "Good."

\- "And... your mother wanted to be here too."

\- "Yeah, I know. But the wounded in Tondc need her more."

\- "Fields commanders, today's the day we get our people back. The enemy thinks it's safe behind its doors, but it's not." –Lexa started her speech- "When it realizes that, it will fight back; hard. We need to be ready." –she looked at Clarke.

\- "This is a rescue mission."

Clarke explained the plan again for those who didn't know it by now; basically, we had four teams: one at the dam commanded by Raven, one at the Reaper tunnels commanded by Indra and joined by Octavia, one inside the mountain commanded by Bellamy and composed by both the Ark and Grounder prisoners and one just outside the main door: us. Once the conversation shifted, I started listening again.

\- "That's a small window." –the sergeant referred to the one minute we had to blow the door's lock- "Why don't we just take the backup generator too? Bellamy's inside, have him do it."

\- "Leaving them without power that long would kill them all and, as I've said, that's not the mission."

\- "Yeah, we'll just wipe their soldiers out, the kids had nothing to do with this, Maya and the other people who helped us deserve to live just as much as we do."

\- "Right." –Sergeant Miller nodded my way.

\- "Besides, we lost contact with Bellamy."

\- "Wait, what?" –I asked surprised, furious and concerned, all at the same time, focusing my eyes on Clarke- "When?"

\- "After he took out the acid fog."

\- "Bellamy's a warrior." –Lexa spoke as I clenched my fists to the sides of my body- "He'll be fine."

\- "Oh, he better be." –I whispered as I felt Clarke's eyes on me- "Or someone will be in trouble here."

\- "Samantha, enough."

Lexa reprimanded me and I rolled my eyes as Lincoln squeezed my arm. She then glanced at Clarke so that she'd keep on explaining the plan.

\- "As the Commander said..." –Clarke continued- "...once the door is open, the shooting will start and they'll throw everything they have at us. But that's what we want; we want them looking at us because while we're fighting at the front door Indra's team will be escorting the prisoners out the back, right through the Reaper tunnels. Once all our people are free, they'll sound the retreat. We'll be back home before Mount Weather even knows they're gone. And that's it." –she looked at me- "That's the plan."

\- "The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long." –Lexa paced around the room, looking at every one of us- "They've hunted us, controlled us, turned us into monsters; that ends today. Thanks to our alliance with the Sky People, the mountain will fall. As Clarke said, we spare the innocent. As for the guilty... jus drein jus daun."

As Lexa said those words, every Grounder in the room started chanting them and so did I. The Mountain Men felt safe inside their doors, but that was about to change. We all got out of the tent and followed Monroe and Sergeant Miller to Mount Weather's main door; they had brought a machine to break a hole into the door where we would place the hydrazine Raven had given them that would explode and give us access inside the mountain. Monroe started working the machine as we watched her.

\- "That should do it." –she said as she moved back- "Bombs away."

Two men moved away the heavy machine as Sergeant Miller moved with the hydrazine towards the door, followed by Lincoln and me.

\- "Archers, watch the trees." –Lexa commanded.

Sergeant Miller took the hydrazine from his bag as Lincoln and I looked at him, we both noticed he was shaking.  _He's afraid and worried, his son is in there._

\- "Hey." –Lincoln moved his hand to the sergeant's forearm- "You can do this."

Lincoln reassured him and the sergeant looked at me before turning to face Lincoln again.

\- "What if we're too late."

\- "We aren't." –I tried to encourage him.

\- "Why are you so sure?"

\- "Can't afford to think another way." –I gave him my best confidence look as I shrugged my shoulders- "We'll get them, your son included. I promise you, it's not too late."

\- "Draw strength from your son. You can do this." –Lincoln backed up my words.

\- "This mountain has taken too much from both of us, hasn't it?"

Lincoln tensed a bit but nodded lightly, anyway. Sergeant Miller took a deep breath and slowly placed the hydrazine inside the hole and activated the mechanism attached to it as a little 'beep' sound and a red light turned on, letting us know everything was going fine.  _Now we just need Raven to do her part and for everyone to remain alive, easy._

**MAYA'S POV**

After Paul and another guard had found Jasper and I hiding at Mrs. And Mr. Peter's home and had killed them, we had been taken prisoners with some other friends of Jasper: Miller and Fox. We had been tied up and were now walking through Level 5 when I saw my father, standing alone in the middle of a hallway.

\- "Out of the way, Vincent." –Paul warned my dad.

\- "That's my daughter."

\- "Dad, don't they..."

\- "Quiet." –Paul cut me off- "She's been aiding and abetting the Outsiders. You need to get out of our way."

\- "I won't let you take her, Paul."

\- "Listen carefully, we've got orders. She knows where they're hiding. Now, step aside." –Paul asked my dad again as I started sobbing, knowing fully well he wouldn't move- "I'm not gonna ask you again."

\- "If you want her, you gotta go through me."

\- "Dad, please." –I begged, trying to get him to move- "They'll kill you."

\- "Don't make me do this, Vincent." –Paul said, taking out his gun and pointing it at my father as tears started to fall down my face.

\- "I'm sorry, Paul."

Paul gave a couple steps towards my dad and a gunshot was heard, Paul falling to the side, dead. The other guard moved towards him, but Miller intercepted him as my dad opened an air vent, revealing Bellamy, who pointed his gun at the remaining guard but didn't need to shoot as Miller was chocking him with his handcuffs and shoved his head against a wall, killing him. Bellamy came out of the air vent and thanked my father.

\- "Miller, how are you?" –Bellamy asked him.

\- "Better than you, I'd say."

\- "Get everyone to the Harvest Chamber, you'll be safer there."

\- "Safe in the Harvest Chamber?" –Jasper asked disconcerted.

\- "Just trust me." –Bellamy reassured him.

\- "Are the others there?"

\- "Not yet."

\- "Monty?" –Jasper became overly worried now.

\- "Monty's with the other group on Level 3." –my dad informed them- "Don't worry, we moved the, after the last sweep. You should go there next." –he looked at Bellamy.

\- "Alright." –he agreed- "Go on, Vincent will take you. I won't be long."

\- "Hey." –Jasper stopped him as he took a rifle from one of the dead guards- "I'm coming with you."

\- "Jasper..."

\- "I promised I'd protect them, that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

\- "Let's go."

Bellamy complied as I heard the determination it in his tone. They started walking and Bellamy disappeared through a corner as Jasper turned to look at me.

\- "Maya." –my dad called for me and made me a sign to follow him.

\- "I'll be okay." –I reassured him as I chose to leave with Jasper.

\- "Your mother would be so proud." –my dad hugged me- "I'll see you soon. Be careful."

\- "You too."

I let go of my dad and turned to Jasper who nodded at me. We both started running after Bellamy, who was already way ahead of ourselves.


	19. This is what I do.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they manage to get the Mountain’s door open, things don’t go quite as Clarke had envisioned them.

**CLARKE'S POV**

It was nighttime and we were still waiting for the sign that Raven and Wick had managed to get the Mountain's power down.

\- "It's taking too long."

\- "It takes as long as it takes." –Lexa calmly spoke next to me- "What will you do when it's over?"

\- "I have no idea."

\- "Well, what do you want?"

\- "Nothing." –I answered sincerely- "My people back. I can't think past today."

\- "You should come with me to the capital, that will change the way you think about us."

\- "I thought that's why you took Sam with your warriors." –I reminded her- "Besides, you already have."

\- "Still, you should come."

Lexa gave a soft smile and I nodded when gunshots were heard in the distance. Lincoln, Monroe, Sam and Sheda appeared from behind us.

\- "It's coming from the dam." –Lincoln informed us.

\- "They know we're going for the power." -Lexa sighed.

\- "They know we're going for the door." -I added.

\- "Raven will get it done, she's one of us." –Roma spoke confidently.

\- "Yeah, if someone can blow something up, it's my girl."

Sam was the last to speak as Lincoln started giving orders to the grounders. I knew Sam trusted Raven would do this but I also knew she was worried she'll get hurt; after everything we'd been through I felt like they had become good friends, something I never thought would happen since Sam was half the reason Bellamy destroyed Raven's radio, but they seemed to have left their differences aside and they worked pretty well together.

\- "As soon as those lights go off..." –Miller's father came next to me- "...you push that button." –I nodded.

\- "We'll do the rest." –Lincoln reminded me.

\- "They really have no idea what's coming." –Sam crossed her arms over her chest satisfied next to Lincoln who nodded in agreement.

I knew Lincoln was eager to make the Mountain Men pay for what they'd done to him and Sam was impatient to get inside to get her friends back; I just hoped they wouldn't get hurt and would pause to think, although I knew if they went in together, they would protect each other. Suddenly, the lights on both sides of the door went off.

\- "She did it."

\- "Hell yeah!" –Sam cheered beside me.

\- "One minute starting now." –Miller's father reminded me.

I looked at Lexa, offering her the remote.

\- "For those we've lost."

\- "And those we'll soon find."

She added to my words and placed her hand over mine, pressing the button together, but nothing happened. We pressed it again and again, the device beeped but nothing happened at the door.

\- "What's wrong?" –Sam asked impatiently

\- "Why isn't it working?" –Lexa anxiously asked as she let go of the remote.

\- "They're jamming us; I have to get closer."

I moved from behind the rocks we had covered ourselves with and started walking towards the door when gunfire started to come from over the door; Lincoln quickly picked me up and covered me from the fire.

\- "Forty-five seconds." –Sergeant Miller screamed over the noise.

\- "We had to kill them or we'll never get through that door." –Sam spoke and Lexa nodded.

\- "Swap emo triga op! Gyon au!" –Lexa screamed and Grounders started moving towards the shooters. [Flank the shooters! Go!]

\- "If I get there, I can trigger it manually." –Sergeant Miller explained to me.

\- "No." –I argued- "You can't get there."

\- "For Nate, I have to try."

I handed him the remote as Lexa gave orders to some Grounders, who positioned themselves around the sergeant, covering him from the fire with their metal shields; they started moving slowly but surely towards the door but, as they got closer, some of them were hit and the shield around the sergeant failed, all of them falling to the ground.

\- "We'll find another way in." –Lexa told me.

\- "There isn't another way." -I looked at her, fearing we had lost before we even started.

\- "I'll give you a way in." –Sam quickly spoke- "Cover me."

And with that, she moved to the side of the rocks taking an arrow in flames in her bow while Lincoln and Sheda took each a metal shield, covering Sam and themselves. Sam took a deep breath as Lexa and I looked at them in shock: looking at them was like seeing a scene from a movie in real life; she looked so powerful and confident, I was glad she was there with us.

\- "Now."

Lincoln whispered to Sam, who let go of the arrow and the three of them moved back to take cover behind the rocks as I saw the arrow fly directly into the hydrazine, making it explode.

\- "Good shot." –Sheda congratulated Sam.

\- "Well, I learned from the best." –she smiled at him and pointed at Lincoln.

\- "We need to get to that ridge and take out the shooters."

Lincoln started to move but Lexa stopped him.

\- "No!" –she screamed at him- "You stay with Clarke. When the shooting stops, you get that door open." –Lincoln nodded at her- "Gyon au!" [Go!]

With that, she moved towards our left, followed by her warriors and I hoped she'd survive.

\- "She's a good Commander." –Sam spoke again- "She is not sending her people to fight alone and die for her, but she chooses to go with them even if that means she could die... weird but honorable I'd say."

 _Yeah, Sam's right. Why would she choose to put her life in danger like that?_ After what seemed like an eternity, the fire stopped, but I wasn't sure if it was because the shooters had been taken down or because they were waiting for us to show our faces again. Lincoln rose up from beside Sam, leaving his body exposed.

\- "Lincoln." –I warned him.

\- "Lexa did it." –he said as no one shot him.

\- "Well, time to work then, people. Come on." –Sam rose up next to Lincoln.

\- "Guys, look!" –Monroe pointed in front of us.

\- "Make sure he's okay." –I ordered as I realized it was Sergeant Miller still alive on the ground; Monroe moved to help him as I turned to Lincoln, Sam, and Sheda- "They'll be waiting just inside the door."

\- "Good." –was all Lincoln said to me before addressing the Grounders.

With his words, two lines of warriors were formed in front of the door with a rope each that was attached to the door.

\- "Train your fire on the door."

Behind us, the army of Grounders was pointing all their weapons towards the door as Lincoln kept giving instructions to the Grounders with the ropes. Sam stood on my left now, with an arrow in her bow, ready to shoot, and Sheda on her side with his sword. The Grounders started pulling the ropes as hard as they could and, for a moment, it seemed as if we would never be able to open the door but, with another effort, the door opened and the Grounders started cheering as I let go of the air I had been accumulating in the lungs.

\- "Attack! Now!"

I yelled and Sam and Sheda were the firsts to move when Lexa's voice interrupted us and the Grounders stopped cheering. She appeared from in between her warriors with none other than Emerson.

\- "What is this?" –I questioned moving up to them.

\- "Why is he alive?" –Sam appeared next to me, closely followed by Sheda.

\- "Hey, look!" –someone yelled from the crowd- "They are coming out."

We all turned to face the door as the prisoners started to come out.

\- "They're surrendering?"

\- "Not quite." –Emerson spoke with a smile on his face.

\- "Where are my friends." –Sam moved threateningly to Emerson but a Grounder stopped her and that's when it hit me: none of the people getting out were Skaikru.

\- "What did you do?" –I asked Lexa as my voice trembled.

\- "What you would have done." –she held her gaze on my eyes- "Saved my people."

\- "Where are my people?"

\- "I'm sorry, Clarke. They weren't part of the deal."

With that, she turned to Emerson and cut his ropes, setting him free as he looked all pleased with himself.

\- "You made the right choice, Commander."

Emerson looked at me and then moved towards the door, getting back inside Mount Weather.

\- "What is this?" –Lincoln approached us now.

\- "Your Commander's made a deal."

\- "What about the prisoners from the Ark?"

\- "They'll all be killed, but you don't care about that, do you?" –I angrily questioned Lexa.

\- "I do care, Clarke, but I made this choice with my head and not my heart. The duty to protect my people comes first."

\- "Please, don't do this."

\- "I'm sorry, Clarke."

\- "Commander, not like this. Let us fight."

\- "No, the deal is done." –her words were firm.

The retreat sound was played and the army of Grounders started moving away, taking their people back home.

\- "You too, Lincoln." –Lexa faced him- "All of our people withdraw. Those were the terms."

\- "They'll be slaughtered, let me help them."

Lexa spoke in Trigedasleng and two Grounders moved towards Lincoln taking him back, but he fought them, getting rid of them until two more moved up to him and started to hit him until he was knocked down. I couldn't bear to look at it, so I turned to face Lexa when Sheda came into sight, he was leaving too, but he was alone and with a familiar bow in his hands.

\- "Where's Sam?"

He looked at Lexa and then at me.

\- "She needs to leave with us, she is one of us now." –Lexa warned him.

\- "Sheda, where is Sam?" –I repeated the question, my voice becoming louder.

\- "She's inside."

\- "What do you mean she's inside. How?"

**SHEDA'S POV**

When Heda came back and made the army stop, Sam looked at me, confusion written all over her face, until she saw the guy Heda was coming with.

\- "Emerson." –she whispered putting her bow down- "Something's wrong, very wrong."

I walked next to her as she moved towards the group.

\- "Why is he alive?" –Sam pointed her knife towards Emerson, who shot her a smug smile.

At that moment, people started to get out from Mount Weather and, for a second, I thought everything was gonna be just fine.

\- "They're surrendering?" –Clarke asked the Commander.

\- "Not quite." –Emerson spoke with a smile on his face.

\- "Where are my friends." –Sam moved threateningly to Emerson but a Grounder stopped her and she moved back next to me, with an expression on her face I couldn't read.

\- "What did you do?" –Clarke asked, worry in her voice.

\- "What you would have done: saved my people."

\- "Where are my people?"

\- "I'm sorry, Clarke. They weren't part of the deal."

With that, the Commander turned to Emerson and cut his ropes, setting him free as he thanked her and moved back inside Mount Weather. Sam followed him with her gaze and turned to face me, handing me her bow and quiver.

\- "Take them. You're really gonna have to learn to shoot now." –she smiled- "And please, use them carefully cause I made those and it took me some time, alright?"

\- "What are you doing?" –I asked confused, but with an idea in mind.

\- "I'm going in."

\- "You can't do that; you'll get yourself killed."

\- "I have to, you know I do. I promised Oreth I'd avenge her and I have to save my friends."

\- "You'll die, Sam. If they sound the retreat I can't go with you, I..."

\- "I wouldn't let you in with me anyway." –she cut me off- "I have to do this, on my own."

\- "Sam..."

\- "Sheda, just because your Commander made a deal doesn't mean I'm going to obey her; even if that means she'll want my head once I'm back." –she sighed- "My people are in there and they will get killed, I have to try."

\- "There has to be another way."

\- "You and I both know there isn't."

\- "Why?"

\- "I can't leave them behind, that's not how I do things."

\- "The inside man..." –I wandered off, remembering how she had reacted when we saw the flame.

\- "I won't leave him behind." –she looked at the door- "Even if there was another way, I won't risk losing the man I love because it took us too long to find a solution to this mess. That's not my job."

\- "What is it, then?"

\- "Saving those who deserve to live. And I'm also getting my man back." –she stated with a small smile on her lips as she looked back into my eyes- "I hope we'll meet again Sheda. I truly do."

And with that, she walked towards the doors as she made a sign to the people exiting not to say a thing, which, surprisingly, they understood and kept their silence. Before going in, she turned to face me and gave me a soft smile and nodded.  _She's truly something else._  I hoped that Emerson guy wouldn't catch her as she disappeared through the door but I knew Sam was too intelligent for that; if anyone could get in and out of there, that was the Sky girl I had quickly become friends with and who had almost kicked my ass a couple times.  _Good luck Sam, I hope I'll see you soon._  As the door closed and they sounded the retreat, I moved back towards the Commander and Clarke.

\- "Where's Sam?" –Clarke asked as she didn't see her with me and noticed I was carrying her bow and quiver.

\- "She needs to leave with us, she is one of us now." –Heda spoke with a menacing voice.

\- "Sheda, where is Sam?" –Clarke's voice got louder.

\- "She..." –I sighed looking back at the door- "She's inside."

\- "What do you mean she's inside." –Clarke looked uneasy- "How?"

\- "She followed the guy in."

\- "Why didn't you stop her." –Clarke looked furious.

\- "She said it's her job to save those who deserve to live." –I looked at Heda and then at Clarke- "She also said she's not leaving the man she loves behind to die."

\- "She's gone in for Bellamy." –Clarke sounded somewhere between surprised and annoyed.

\- "Love will get her killed, that's her weakness." –Heda spoke with a solemn tone as she glanced at the closed door.

\- "She's willing to sacrifice herself for those she loves, that's not her weakness..." –Clarke stood her ground and looked at the Commander- "...that's her strength."

The Commander looked at Clarke with a mix of emotions in her eyes, even if her face remained still.

\- "May you meet her again, then." –Heda told Clarke before making a sign for all of us to leave- "May we meet again." –she placed special emphasis on the second word.

I followed the Grounders who had taken Lincoln because I was sure he'll eventually ask about Sam, and I rather it to be me the one to tell him the choices she had made for herself.

**CLARKE'S POV**

_Of course, out of all the possibilities she has, Sam would choose to go inside, following Emerson. I know she's clever and knows how to put up a fight, but Emerson... Although, had it been her inside, I'm sure Bellamy would have acted the same way._  After the Grounders left, I stood there contemplating the door, trying to think of something.  _I have to do something._

\- "Clarke, let's go." –Sergeant Miller spoke from behind me- "We'll come back with reinforcements."

\- "Clarke." –Monroe called me- "Clarke, come on." –I turned to face her- "It's over, I'm sorry."

\- "It's not over. It can't be."

I stood in front of the door as they all left back to camp.  _There must be something we can do, another way in._  And that's when it hit me.  _The Reaper tunnels. If Bellamy could get in through those then why wouldn't I be able to?_

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

After they sounded the retreat, everyone had left me alone at the tunnels, even the guards from the Ark, even Jackson; but there was no way I'd leave and leave my brother there to die. I was sat against a metal container when an alarm went off.

\- "About time."

I rose up and looked up at the damper as it opened and a body fell into the container.  _Fox. No._  They were still inside and they were getting killed.  _I have to do something._  I was facing the main door when I heard footsteps approaching me from the tunnels, so I hid behind a wall and took out my sword, ready to fight whoever it was.

\- "Octavia." –Clarke came into sight and I lowered my sword and turned to the door- "You stayed."

\- "Screw you." –I turned to face her as she sounded surprised- "Of course I did, I know where my loyalties lie."

\- "We have to get in there."

\- "If that was possible do you think I'd still be out here?"

I pushed her to look inside the container where Fox's body was and it was as if Clarke couldn't speak anymore.

\- "Why did Lexa sound the retreat?"

\- "She made a deal with Mount Weather: freed the Grounders. Now we are on our own."

\- "As Sam'd say, we were always on our own." –I said crossing my arms over my chest- "Where is she, anyway? I know she'd never leave Bellamy inside nor Monty and Jasper. Did she and Lincoln find a way in?"

Clarke ignored me and moved to the door and started knocking with her gun.

\- "Stop! They'll know we're here!"

She turned to face me, desperation covering her face as she tried to breathe slowly.

\- "Answer me, where are Sam and Lincoln? They'd never leave."

\- "They didn't." –she faced me- "They took Lincoln."

She took her gun in both hands and pointed it at the doors opening panel.

\- "What's wrong with you?" –I yelled pushing her gun away.

\- "I am getting through that door."

\- "And that's your plan?" –I questioned- "Bellamy's counting on you. This was your plan, getting him inside to get everyone out. Everyone's always counting on you."

\- "What do you want from me?"

\- "You trusted Lexa, you let a bomb drop on Tondc, you let all those people..."

\- "I am doing the best I can."

\- "Well, it's not good enough." –I ended- "Now, where is Sam? Why won't you tell me?"

As Clarke was about to answer, the door started to open behind us and I took out my sword as Clarke pointed her gun at it. As it opened completely, it revealed Bellamy and I ran up to him.

\- "Bellamy!" –I sighed relieved and hugged him as he hugged me back tightly.

\- "Hi, O."

As Bellamy let go of me, Jasper and Monty walked outside.

\- "I knew it!" –I smiled embracing them both- "You two are too scrawny to drill."

Behind them appeared a girl in a suit and I tensed.

\- "Hey, it's alright, she's with us." –Jasper explained to me.

\- "Maya?" –I asked remembering Sam telling me about the girl who saved Bellamy.

\- "How you know?" –Monty asked me.

\- "Sam told me about her."

\- "She's alive? I mean, if Bellamy is alive of course Sam would be too." –Jasper laughed- "Where is she anyway? I need to see my first Earth friend."

\- "I don't know... ask Clarke, maybe she'll tell you."

\- "Clarke's here?" –Monty looked behind me- "Clarke!"

_Where are you, Sam? You better still be alive... I can't lose you, sister._


	20. A bright idea.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia and Clarke make it inside Mount Weather with Bellamy, Monty, Jasper and Maya while Sam manages to avoid the mountain’s security.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

\- "Hey, guys." –Clarke greeted Monty and Jasper before hugging them.

\- "I'm sorry to ruin the reunion but where is your army?" –I rushed them- "And where's Sam?"

\- "Gone, just like yours." –Clarke confessed and sighed- "Please, tell me you have a plan."

\- "Not really."

\- "You know who'd have a plan?" –Octavia interrupted us with an eyebrow raised as Clarke went kind of pale- "Sam would. Where is my sister, Clarke? You've been avoiding telling me about her since you came in. I need to know."

_Wait, what's going on._

\- "Is she okay?" –I tried to sound calm but inside I was afraid something had happened to her- "Please, tell me she didn't blow up with the missile."

\- "No, we both survived that." –Octavia soothed my worries- "After that, I came to the tunnels with Indra and she stayed at the door with Sheda." –I gave her a questioning look- "One of Lexa's warriors, nothing you should worry about." –she smiled at me.

\- "Then, where is she?" –I faced Clarke- "We all know Sam would never turn her back on us."

\- "After Lexa let Emerson go and just before she sounded the retreat and everyone left..." –Clarke paused as if the next thing she was going to say burnt her tongue- "...she... she followed Emerson inside."

\- "What?"

\- "I couldn't stop her!" -Clarke gave me an apologetic look- "I thought she would have found you by now, but seeing she's not with you... maybe Emerson saw her follow him inside and caught her..."

\- "No." –Octavia's voice was strong- "Sam's too clever for that; I'm sure she's fine."

\- "How can you know?" –Clarke questioned almost annoyed- "We have no way of communicating with her."

\- "She's my sister; if she were dead, I'd know and so would you." –Octavia touched my chest defiantly- "Sam is alive."

\- "Why did she follow him inside instead of coming here with you?" –I faced Clarke.

\- "Sam an extremely impulsive person. When everything went down, none of us there knew what to do and Sam did what thought best."

\- "How is going straight into the slaughterhouse the best choice? I know Sam wants to save everyone, but that sounds extreme even for her."

\- "Bellamy..." –Clarke sighed- "...I'm sure she'd like to tell you herself."

\- "Tell me what."

\- "She went in for you." –Octavia breathed out.

\- "No." –I shook my head in denial- "That can't be. She could have waited."

\- "She said she wasn't going to risk it."

\- "What do you mean?"

\- "When Sam told Sheda she was going in, he told her to wait until we figured another way in but she refused." –Clarke confessed- "She said she was not going to wait and risk losing you."

My jaw probably could have hit the floor if it weren't attached to the rest of my skull; I was the reason Sam could be dead by now.

\- "This is my fault, she's going to die because of me." –I murmured turning around, ready to go inside the Mountain to find her- "I need to find her."

\- "Bellamy, wait." –Octavia stopped me- "We need a plan."

\- "I have a plan: find Sam before they do and get her out of here."

\- "Bellamy, I know how you feel about Sam and the urge you're feeling to go in there without a plan, but you can't do that; we need a real plan that won't get you killed."

\- "I have to find her, she's in there because of me, O... I can't leave her alone... I..."

\- "Bellamy, don't do this to yourself. You know Sam, she's a daredevil; no one could have stopped her from going in, not even you."

\- "Octavia, she went inside to find me." -I emphasized the last word- "I'm the reason she could be dead by now and if she is I'll never forgive myself..."

\- "Love is a hard thing, isn't it?" –O smiled patting my back- "You and I both know Sam's ways. Sure, she's impulsive, reckless and stubborn, but she won't go down without a fight, a big one most likely. She's probably around, checking where everyone is, punching some guards..."

\- "But what if..."

\- "I refuse to think she's going to die without you both getting together. I haven't been rooting for you two since we landed for it to end like this." –Octavia gave me a soft smile- "Not happening, big brother. Besides, I found a sister and she's not getting rid of me that easily."

I appreciated O's optimism but I still couldn't get rid of the guilt that was eating me alive.  _I can't lose her, I... I have to find her..._

\- "I'm sure she's fine." –Maya spoke next to me- "If she's just like Jasper described her, she'll be fine."

\- "You're not supposed to go around telling people what I tell you about them, you know?" –Jasper chuckled making us all smile- "So, what's the plan?"

\- "We need to talk to Dante." -I tried to think rationally- "Maya says he's in quarantine."

I turned to look at Maya who nodded at my words, when her oxygen tank started beeping and Jasper took it to check it.

\- "Thirty minutes." –he whispered, desperation could be heard in his voice - "But it can't be, we just changed it." –he turned his face to look at us- "It's her last tank."

\- "Okay, we'll find you another one."

\- "All the supplemental oxygen is on Level Five." –Maya announced, shaking her head.

\- "Then we have to get you there."

\- "No, Five isn't safe for any of us."

\- "We'll take the trash chute again, it'll work."

\- "To get in? Maybe, but Maya's right, every soldier in this mountain is there. We'll never make it out."

\- "We can do this." –Jasper insisted- "We'll split up."

\- "Okay." –Octavia quickly agreed- "You guys go for Dante, we'll help Maya and, hopefully, one of us will run into Sam."

With that, Octavia took out her sword and walked inside, followed by Jasper and Maya, Clarke, Monty and, finally, me, closing the door to freedom behind us.  _Sam, you better still be alive, I need to see you again._

**SAM'S POV**

Following Emerson inside Mount Weather could have been ranked as the worst idea I had have yet, which was saying a lot; but I wasn't about to leave my friends to die who knows how because of these group of idiotic people. Once I went in, I saw Emerson going down some stairs as two guards remained next to them, talking to each other, not really paying attention to the Grounders leaving, probably because they were all too beaten up to stand a fight. My best chance was to hide from them until they closed the door and so that's what I did.

\- "They are all out now. Let's close this up, we have another mission and we need to suit up."

One of them said and moved towards the door as the other started going down the stairs and I saw my chance. Once the first guard closed the door and turned around, I popped up from my hideout and walked carefully behind him, until I was close enough to cover his mouth with one of my hands and slit his throat with the knife I had in the other; I quickly took his weapons and hide his body, letting it fall and make a sound once it hit the ground, so that, hopefully, the other guy would come back up, making it easier for me to get him.

\- "Reynold, what happened? Did you drink too much before coming up and fell?" –the other guard came up the stairs with a laugh- "Where are you? We don't have time for games, we have things..."

As he was talking, he approached both the body and I and, once he saw his dead companion, he tried to reach for his radio but I jumped behind him fast enough, stabbing him in his lower back. He fell to the ground and tried to take the radio, again.

\- "I think, I'll take that."

I took his radio as he tried to fight back, already bleeding out, but I decided to put him out of his misery faster, so I stab him in the heart and he stopped moving once and for all. I took my time to make sure I got all his weapons and ammunition, just in case; although it wasn't much at all. When I was sure I had everything and that there was no one else there, I made my way to the stairs and started going down thinking of Clarke's map and everything I had heard about the Mountain. By now I was pretty sure my friends should be in level 5 but there was no way I could just walk in right through the door.  _Come on, let's think for a second. There have to be air vents or a trash disposal system I can use to get through the levels, I think Bellamy used those._  I knew the only level people from the mountain could be was Level 5, the only one that hadn't been radiated, so I got down until I saw a door that read "Level 4" and walked right through it.  _That was offensively easy; but if all the work I have to do is like this, I'm not complaining._  I walked around Level 4, not really finding the bloody trash thing, but I did find an elevator. I stopped in front of it to think for a second and chose to open the doors lightly to see if it would trigger any alarms to go off; luckily, it didn't.  _The things I do for these people._  Once I had managed to get the doors to open enough for me to pass by them, I placed one of the guard's rifles in between them to force them to stay open while I carefully moved inside the elevator's shaft. I looked up and down to check where the actual elevator was, finding it exactly below me.  _Of course. That better not collapse once I'm inside or set off any alarms, I didn't come this far to get caught._  I climbed down to the elevator and lightly opened the small door on its ceiling to get inside, only to find a body rooting inside.  _Gross._  She was wearing a white coat, she was probably the doctor.  _Wait a second, if the doctor's dead, whose killing my friends now? Yeah, sure they have more doctors, but are they all in on it? I would seriously hope not._

**CLARKE'S POV**

After leaving Octavia with Jasper to help Maya get to Level 5, Monty, Bellamy and I made our way to Level 3 where Dante was being held in quarantine.  _Back to where we started._  We entered his room, whose walls were covered in different pieces of art, and he stood up as soon as he heard us come in.

\- "Hello, Clarke."

\- "Sir, we need your help again." –Bellamy spoke on my left.

\- "It's okay." –Monty spoke from my right- "I took out the camera from the junction box in the hall. We can talk freely."

\- "No one's watching anyway." –Dante was quick to answer- "Thanks to you, they're all on Level 5."

\- "You're not." –I spoke knowing what it meant.

_He got the marrow injected._

\- "I'm not."

\- "Please, we don't have much time." –Bellamy rushed us- "We need a way to get all our people out without killing everyone."

\- "He's not gonna help us." –I spoke seeing the expression on his face.

\- "You cut the power risking the lives of everyone in this mountain, my people; even the ones who helped you."

\- "We knew they'd be safe on Level 5." –I walked up to him, standing now directly in front of him- "We've made sure not to destroy the turbines so you could repair them. We're the good guys here, not you."

\- "Tell me, if we released your people and theirs, what would have happened to mine?"

I turned to look at Monty, avoiding Dante.

\- "Can you get us into the command center? We need to see what's happening on Level 5."

\- "No problem."

\- "Let's go then." –Bellamy moved to Dante and pushed him to walk in front of him- "You're gonna help us whether you like it or not."

**SAM'S POV**

I looked at the elevator's panel that seemed to still be working.  _Should I just push the button to open the doors or should I open them manually? Do these things make a noise when they open? I guess we're about to find out._  I left the hatch door on the elevator's ceiling open in case I needed to go back fast, although I hoped it wouldn't come to it. I placed my ear on the elevator's closed door to see if I could hear anything. A lot of voices but they seem to be decently far away from here.  _Wait, footsteps._  I was almost certain they weren't coming to take the elevator but still, I held my breath as they approached me.

\- "Sir, there's something wrong. Reynold and Paxton are missing."

\- "Didn't they go with Emerson to get the rest of the Ark people?"

_Wait, what? How long have I been down here?_

\- "No, sir. They didn't make it. Emerson says he last saw them when he came back in."

\- "Did any of the kids escape?"

\- "No, sir. A couple of guys and I could put on some suits and go check the first level."

\- "Do it fast."

\- "Yes, sir."

 _Well, that means they are about to find out I'm here. I need to do something now._ I stood put until the footsteps left and I could only hear faded voices. I forced the elevator doors open and looked at both sides, deciding to make a right and walk away from the voices. Soon enough I heard a weird noise, like a drill, followed by a fainted scream.  _Oh, no._  I moved closer to the sound when a door opened and I had to think fast, choosing to open a random door and hiding inside the room. I carefully looked outside through the dirty and small door's window to see two more guards walking in the direction I had come from.  _Now, that was a close call._  I took a deep breath and walked out to the hallway again and towards the door they had come from. The screams had ceased now as well as the drilling. I looked through this door's window and I had to blink a couple times to make sure I wasn't dreaming: everyone was in there; from Miller to his father, Harper, Abbie and even Raven. All were chained to the walls, while two doctors removed a body from a table, carefully watched by four guards.

\- "She's next." –a guard said pointing out at Raven.

 _No, no, no, this is not happening_. I moved back from the door and checked the only gun I had to count the bullets it had: 5.  _This should do it; if not, I always have my blades._  I took a deep breath and looked again through the window. Two guards were putting Raven down on the table while the other two kept an eye on the rest of my people.  _Now is as good of a time as it'll get._  I opened the door fast, making everyone turn their faces to me as the two guards that weren't tying Raven up turned around to shoot me. I raised my gun, shooting them both first. The two doctors ran away through another door as soon as they saw me.

\- "Where did she come from?" –a guard that had taken cover behind some cages yelled.

\- "From Hell, it's Judgement's day!" –I said shooting again, hitting him in the arm.

 _Fuck, I don't have enough bullets to waste them like this._  A mild pain made me look to my left, to see the fourth guy that I had forgotten about coming straight towards me, as a bullet brushed my left forearm.

\- "Careful not to hit the girl from the Ark." -one fo them shouted- "Just kill the Grounder."

 _I guess Sheda did a great job after all._ I thought smiling to myself and shooting him in the leg.

\- "You bitch!"

The guard from behind the cages had serious aim issues for he didn't seem to be able to hit me, maybe it had to do with his bleeding arm.

\- "Please, no bad words in front of the kids."

I grinned and shoot him in the chest, getting rid of him. I kicked the last guard in the head to make sure he wouldn't bother me, for I had only one more bullet and I didn't know if I'd need it later.

\- "Samantha, you need to leave!" –Sergeant Miller pleaded.

\- "I just got rid of the guards, why would I leave?" –I said moving towards Raven- "Hey!"

\- "Sam, there are more guards in..." –Kane was talking when another voice interrupted him.

\- "Get her! Now!"

I turned my face towards the double doors through which the doctors had flown and saw two more guards pointing their guns at me.

\- "Surrender now and we won't shoot."

\- "Fuck." –I looked down at Raven.

\- "Go, please." –she whispered, trembling.

\- "I promise, I'll come back for you. You're not dying while I'm here."

\- "Please, save yourself." –Raven had tears in her eyes now.

\- "Shut up and hand the gun over."

\- "Suit yourself!"

I yelled shooting my last bullet at them before throwing it their way and running back to the elevator.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

We were just outside the command center waiting for Monty to get the door open. I had hoped Sam would have come here but she was nowhere to be seen.

\- "I've told you, everyone's on Level 5."

\- "I'm not looking for one of yours."

\- "Bellamy, not now." –Clarke warned me- "Why aren't you there, then?"

\- "After what I've done they can be free." –Dante looked at her- "I can't." –he sighed- "Deliverance comes at a cost. I bear it so they don't have to."

\- "It wasn't Cage." –I confronted him- "It was your idea to make the deal with the Grounders."

Dante nodded in response just as Monty got the door open. I walked in first, to make sure there was really no one there.

\- "Let's get the monitors up."

\- "I'm on it."

Monty was quick to get everything started and soon the screens in front of us lightened up, each showing different things.

\- "We're in."

\- "Is that Raven?" –I asked pointing at one of the screens.

She was lying down on something and all tied up to it and four guards were on the floor, most likely dead.  _What the fuck._

\- "What happened?" –Clarke looked at Dante.

\- "I don't know."

\- "There!"

Monty pointed at another screen next to us where we could see someone running away from a couple guards.

\- "What's a Grounder doing in here?" –Monty asked- "I though they were all gone."

\- "That's no Grounder." –Clarke looked up at me- "That's Sam."

\- "I need to go help her." –I didn't hesitate, moving towards the door.

\- "No, you won't get there in time and they could catch you." –Clarke stopped me.

\- "What should I do then? Stay safe here and watch her die again?" –I confronted her.

\- "Guys..."

Monty drew our attention back to the monitors and my heart clenched in my chest.


	21. Maybe not so much.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Sam runs away from the guards she finds herself in a rather sticky situation. Alone and helpless as they are inside the Mountain, what can Sam do to save those who don’t deserve to suffer?

**SAM'S POV**

\- "Sir, we found the girl. She's running towards the mess hall."

I heard one of the guards talk most likely on their walkie as I saw the elevator a couple of feet away from me.  _We got this, just have to make sure I get to the hatch fast so that they can't pull me down._  As I stood almost in front of the elevator door, ready to jump, a guard appeared from inside it and I barely managed to avoid him running now towards who knew where.  _Fuck, I messed up. I should have at least freed Raven._ I kept running until I was faced with a man in a suit and a guard I recognized pointing my way with a gun.  _Emerson, well now this is just perfect timing._  I had nowhere to go so I stopped running, turned around and threw my two knives to the guards running behind me, killing one and hurting the other on the stomach. I felt a pair of arms pulling me back as I was about to take Oreth's blade that I had hidden in the inside of my jacket and I heard a click behind me; I tried to move my hands but I couldn't: they had handcuffed me.  _Now, this is just so great._

\- "What do we have here?" –the guy in the suit asked, walking into sight.

\- "I'd like to say a problem." –I grinned and tried to move up to him but someone pulled me back.

\- "Samantha, right? We almost didn't recognize you with that paint on your face." –he asked moving closer as I rolled my eyes- "Emerson has told me about your little encounter."

\- "Yeah, I should have taken a couple more hours of oxygen from his tank."

\- "I thought you died with the missile." –Emerson spoke behind me.

\- "Oh, I'm so sorry to disappoint you." –I scoffed.

\- "Let's get her with the others."

The guy in the suit spoke to Emerson when a familiar voice came through the walkies.

\- "President Wallace."

_Clarke's in here too? Now that's a nice surprise, I wonder how she got in. Maybe one of the Blake siblings helped her. God, I hope they're all alright._

\- "So, you are the so-called President?" –I questioned trying to keep my mind busy- "I'd say you're more of a tyrant because what you're doing to us is far from democratic."

\- "You, shut up." –he was irritated with me now- "Give me the radio."

Emerson took his radio and handed it to him.

\- "This is President Wallace."

\- "I have your father." –Clarke declared- "If you don't let my people go, I'll kill him."

\- "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

\- "Stay the course, Cage." –a man's voice replaced Clarke's.

\- "You won't do it." –Cage said as his eyes widened.

\- "Oh, man, you don't know us at all, do you?" -I said looking up at him.

My words didn't seem to resonate well with him for Cage looked at Emerson, who proceeded to kick my knees to get me on the ground while taking a gun to my head.

\- "If you kill him, I'll kill her." –he placed the walkie in front of my mouth- "Say hi to your friend."

\- "Do you actually think I'm in any way equivalent to your dad?" –I ignored his request- "You think she won't kill him just because you have me?"

\- "Shut up." –Emerson hit me lightly with the gun.

\- "If you hurt her, I will kill you."

_Bellamy? The good news is he's alive, the bad news is now they know he's with Clarke._

\- "Huh, I'd say someone is not willing to risk your life." –Cage looked at me with a smile plastered on his face- "Who's that?" –he asked Emerson- "The intruder?"

\- "Too bad Clarke has a gun and isn't afraid to use it." –I said rolling my eyes, avoiding Bellamy's topic.

\- "This ends now." –Clarke's voice interrupted us- "Release my people."

\- "I can't do that."

\- "Don't make me do this." –Clarke spoke again after some silence.

Cage looked at me and then at Emerson as the voices of children laughing came to my ears.

\- "Dad, I'll take care of our people." –Cage said looking at the small camera over us.

\- "None of us have a choice here, Clarke." –a man's voice I didn't recognize came through the radio, I assumed Cage's father.

\- "I didn't want this." –Clarke's voice came through now.

\- "Neither did I."

The same man spoke again before a gunshot was heard.  _She shot him, alright, wao._  We heard him groaning before a flat noise, most likely the body hitting the floor, came through. Cage's knuckles went white holding the radio before he turned to look at me.

\- "Listen to me very carefully." –Clarke spoke- "I will not stop until my people are free."

\- "Your friend is causing me just as much trouble as you have." –Cage looked down at me.

\- "Well, don't look at me. If I hadn't run out of bullets you'd be dead by now."

\- "You're no fun. Maybe I should just go ahead and get Emerson to shoot you right here, for them to see." –he pointed at the camera over us.

\- "No, I'm a lot of fun." –I smiled while raising an eyebrow- "Why don't we get rid of the handcuffs and I'll show you?"

\- "It's a pity you're in the wrong side of this." –Cage chuckled- "We could have been good friends."

\- "Cage, listen to me." –Clarke's voice interrupted us.

\- "Clarke, dear, we are trying to speak over here." –I smiled looking at the camera, although I knew she couldn't hear me.

\- "Your friend Samantha over here is very amusing." –Cage spoke on the walkie- "Why did you send her here, Clarke? Is she disposable to you? I'll get rid of her for you."

\- "She didn't send me." –I interrupted him- "I don't take orders from her. I followed your lieutenant in through the main door and he was dumb enough not to notice me." –I looked at Emerson for a second- "So, technically, it's his fault all those guards are dead."

\- "Why are you here, then?"

\- "I wasn't going to leave my people behind. Besides, your stupid missile killed a friend of mine, I came here to get revenge."

\- "Cage, it's over. Let her go and your people will live." –Bellamy's voice came through the radio.

\- "Someone is really invested on you." –Cage looked at me and then at Emerson- "We have an advantage, he won't let her die. We can use that."

I was about to protest, to try to leave Bellamy out of this, when Clarke spoke again on the walkie.

\- "Cage, listen. I don't want anyone else to die." –she tried to reason with him- "Stop the drilling and we can talk; but, if you don't let them go, we'll irradiate Level 5."

\- "Emerson." –Cage's tone became threatening as he let go of the walkie handing it over to the guard, so Clarke now couldn't hear him- "They're at the command center. I've changed my mind, go kill them all."

\- "Yes, sir."

\- "No, sir."

I said raising up from the floor and facing the camera.

\- "Bellamy, you have to go, he's going after you!" –I screamed hoping they could read my lips.

\- "Now, you, little friend, are coming with me." –Cage grabbed my arms, pushing me back in the direction I had come from.

\- "Emerson, if you touch him, I'll kill you!" –I yelled trying to look at him.

\- "Him, huh?" –Cage's voice sounded in my ear- "Who's this Bellamy?"

\- "None of your business, sir Tyrant."

We ended up back in the room where all my people were. Raven was still on the table, now bleeding through her thigh.

\- "You monster, let her go! Did you not learn anything from my first visit?" –I screamed at one of the doctors who looked terrified to see me, trying to get rid of Cage.

\- "Easy there, you'll have your turn." –Cage chuckled and I really felt like punching his face.

He handed me over a guard who pushed me against a wall to get me chained up like the rest.

\- "Take her off the table." –Cage instructed one of the doctors.- "We haven't finished..."

\- "Now." –he answered, a mix of irritation and anger in his voice- "And..." –he moved next to Abbie- "Put her on."

 _This is to get back at Clarke for his father._ Kane was screaming for Abbie.  _I need to do something. Think fast._  I did the first thing that came to mind. While the guard was taking my handcuffs off, slowly and carefully so that I wouldn't escape and from just one of my hands, I pretended to faint, falling to the ground as he was not expecting it. Once he lowered to get me up, I hit him with my head, immediately regretting it, but managing to get rid of him.

\- "You need better service, Mr. Tyrant." –I said moving up to the next guard.

\- "And you need manners." –he told me before looking at two new guards- "Get her on the table instead."

 _Not how I pictured this going, but it'll give Clarke and Bellamy some more time to figure this out._  I managed to fight one of the guards, but as the next two came up to me, I knew I was done. I took out Oreth's blade, decided to place it through Cage's heart but a couple more guards appeared from the door behind me, efficiently overpowering me. They set me on the table and restrained my wrists and ankles so that I wouldn't move.

\- "I was gonna leave you last to see all your friends die and wonder what happened to Clarke and Bellamy, but I guess you just couldn't wait." –Cage came into view as he tied my neck to the table.

\- "So much talking, so little action." –I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

\- "You came in here to kill me but now you're the one who's going to die."

\- "Death and I go way back so if you're trying to scare me, it's not working."

\- "What's this?" –Cage said taking Oreth's blade.

\- "If you could like, pierce your heart with it, that'd be extremely useful."

\- "I still don't understand why you have your face painted like the Grounders." –Cage ignored my remark and kept talking as he inspected the blade- "Does it have anything to do with the friend that died? Did this belong to them?"

\- "Keep talking, hopefully, you'll make me angry enough to get rid of these ties and slit your throat with that blade."

While Cage and I conversed, the doctor came back with a rather big needle and some scissors. He cut my pants around thigh-high and all the way down.

\- "What's up with people ripping my clothes off?" –I argued trying to look at him- "You know they go down, right?"

\- "Let her go!" –Bellamy's voice came through the walkie I was carrying, startling me.

\- "He's still alive, huh? Good. I'm sure they can see us." –Cage said taking the walkie from my pocket and looking at a camera on the ceiling- "So you're the intruder that's caused me so many issues."

\- "Let her go!"

\- "You're in no position to negotiate." –Cage corrected him- "I'm seeing Samantha has some impressive scars." –he said moving back next to me and inspecting my legs and bare arms.

\- "Yeah, let's just say it's been a long couple of months."

\- "We're ready, sir." –the doctor interrupted him- "Please, step back."

\- "Good." –Cage moved the radio back to his mouth- "Bellamy, any last words for your lover?"

\- "I'm sorry." –Bellamy's voice was no more than a whisper.

\- "Not what I was expecting but alright." –he then faced me- "Any last words, Samantha?"

\- "Yeah. See you in hell." –I spat and he laughed.

\- "Is that the last thing you wanna tell him? Really?"

\- "No, I'll see you in hell, Cage."

\- "No last words for him, then?"

\- "I'm sorry too." –I said focusing my gaze on the ceiling.

Cage gave the green light to the doctor and immediately a drilling noise washed over all the other sounds. I knew this was gonna hurt for sure but I could only think of how I was never going to see Bellamy and Octavia again.  _She's gonna be so pissed._  I smiled at the memory of O.  _And Bellamy, he'll never know.._. A piercing pain overflew my entire body, making me clench my fists and shut my eyes hard. The drilling stopped for a moment and I carefully opened my eyes hoping this was over. I glanced at the door and I saw a guard coming in with Jasper.  _I wanted to see him again, but not like this._  He looked at me and nodded, as if he truly believed everything was going to be just fine and, for a moment, I thought that too and smiled at him. The guard interchanged a couple words with Cage before moving to the wall and placing Jasper where I had been a couple minutes ago. I felt the pain again before I was aware of the drilling noise filling the room again; I tried not to scream but, after what seemed like hours but what probably a couple seconds, my body reacted on its own until my voice broke, my throat hurt and tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't think of anything, everything was black and painful.


	22. It's over.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy has to make a hard decision if he wants to save his friends but, what could be the trigger behind his choice?

**BELLAMY'S POV**

Sam had been able to get rid of the two guards following her but Emerson had handcuffed her and Cage was speaking with her; we couldn't hear what they were saying, which was driving me mad.

\- "President Wallace."

Clarke spoke on a walkie as I paced the room unsettled, not moving my eyes from the screen in which Sam was; the three people on it looked surprised to hear Clarke's voice. Cage said something to Sam who replied making Cage's expression look angrier before he spoke to Emerson who handed him his walkie.

\- "This is President Wallace."

\- "I have your father." –Clarke announced- "If you don't let my people go, I'll kill him."

\- "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Clarke walked up to Dante and placed the walkie next to his mouth, prompting him to say something to his son.

\- "Stay the course, Cage."

_Out of all the things we can say, he chooses those words?_

\- "You won't do it." –Cage answered quickly, almost daringly.

\- "You don't know me very well."

Silence was made at the end of the other line for a couple seconds; after that, Emerson kicked Sam to get her on her knees and put a gun to her head.  _This is not happening._

\- "If you kill him, I'll kill her." –Cage spoke again and put the walkie next to Sam, probably unaware that we were seeing them- "Say hi."

\- "Do you actually think I'm in any way equivalent to your dad?" –Sam's voice was steady through the radio- "You think she won't kill him just because you have me?"

\- "If you hurt her..." –I said taking the walkie from Clarke unable to control myself any longer- "...I will kill you."

\- "Bellamy!" –Clarke tore the walkie from my hands- "Why did you do that? Now they know you're here and they have something on you!"

\- "I'm not losing Sam again, Clarke; I'm not risking her life."

\- "They already have her. She chose this, not you." –she looked frustrated.

\- "Are you trying to tell me she's as good as dead?"

\- "We can't save everyone, Bellamy." –she took the walkie again and spoke to it now- "This ends now. Release my people."

\- "I can't do that."

\- "It'd mean the end of our people, Clarke." –Dante backed Cage's words.

I glanced at Dante before turning back to Clarke, who took out her gun and pointed it at him.

\- "Clarke, we need him." –I said moving away from him, just in case- "We could exchange him for Sam." –I pleaded as the idea hit me.

\- "I need his son to believe me."

\- "Clarke, listen to me." –I asked moving slowly next to her.

\- "Don't make me do this." –Clarke spoke on the walkie, shaking her head my way.

Cage looked around until he found the camera and spoke looking at it.

\- "Dad, I'll take care of our people."

\- "None of us has a choice here, Clarke." –Dante argued as he glanced at the screen where his son was.

\- "I didn't want this." –Clarke's voice sounded apologetic.

\- "Neither did I."

As Dante finished, Clarke shot him. I witnessed powerless as the old man fell to the floor, dead. I glanced at the screen in which Sam was still on her knees, with the gun to her head, afraid Emerson would pull the trigger.

\- "I hope his death was worth it." –I cursed under my breath.

\- "You know they wouldn't have agreed." –Clarke retorted- "I had to do it."

\- "Would you have not tried to negotiate was it Finn in Sam's position?" –I questioned and her eyes widened as I realized what I had just said- "I'm sorry, Clarke, but I will do whatever I have to save her."

She nodded, looking at the screen in front of us before speaking to Cage again.

\- "Listen to me very carefully. I will not stop until my people are free."

Cage was having a conversation with Sam and we couldn't hear any of it, which wasn't helping any of us, especially me, calm down.

\- "Is there a way to listen to what they are saying?"

\- "No, it's already a miracle they are standing next to a camera so that we can see them. I'm sorry Bellamy, there's nothing I can do." –Monty gave me an apologetic look and I nodded.

\- "Cage, listen to me." –Clarke interrupted them as Sam faced the camera smiling.

_I'd pay anything to hear what they are saying. Sam, you better not be bargaining with your life again, I won't have it._

\- "Your friend Samantha over here is very amusing. Why did you send her here, Clarke? Is she disposable to you?" –Cage spoke on the walkie- "I'll get rid of her for you."

\- "She didn't send me." –Sam interrupted him and we heard her as he left the walkie on- "I don't take orders from her. I followed your lieutenant in through the main door and he was dumb enough not to notice me. So, technically, it's his fault all those guards are dead."

I couldn't help chuckling lightly when hearing Sam still being as direct and sneering as always, even if the circumstances were far from looking anywhere near good for us, for her.  _God, I love her._

\- "Why are you here, then?"

\- "I wasn't going to leave my people behind. Besides, your stupid missile killed a friend of mine, I came here to get revenge."

\- "Cage, it's over." –I took the lead again- "Let her go and your people will live."

Cage said something to Sam, who didn't seem to like what she was hearing so she shifted uncomfortably in her place.

\- "Cage, listen. I don't want anyone else to die." –Clarke tried to reason with him- "Stop the drilling and we can talk; but, if you don't let them go, we'll irradiate Level 5."

As the words seemed to sink on Cage, he gave the walkie to Emerson who nodded and started moving at the same time Sam managed to rise to her feet and scream something looking at the camera before Cage took her away.

\- "She's warning us." –I acknowledged, recognizing my name on her lips- "Something's wrong."

\- "Can we see where they are going?" –Clarke questioned seeing how Emerson moved in a different direction.

\- "Yeah, give me a sec."

With that, Monty started working his thing, going through the cameras until we saw Emerson on one and Cage and Sam on another.

\- "Emerson is coming for us."

\- "Of course." –I faced Monty- "They deactivated my key card, can you do that to his?"

\- "That one's easy."

Monty went back to work as I followed Sam through the cameras.

\- "Where is he taking her?"

\- "The dorm." –Clarke moved next to me as we both watched the cameras helplessly- "Monty, can you do it? Can you irradiate the level?"

\- "I can do it. But..."

\- "But what?" –I glanced at him.

\- "Think about it, there're kids in here, people who helped us..."

\- "We're running out of options, Monty." –Clarke sighed.

\- "If anyone has a better idea, this is the time to say it."

I knew they were both right: Clarke knew irradiating the level would save our people but Monty had also a point, we would be killing those who had helped us. I was stuck in the middle.  _For now._

\- "What...?"

Clarke's worried tone brought me back from my thoughts. I followed her eyes to the main screen where we could see the dorm. They had taken Raven from the stretcher and, luckily, she was still alive; two guards had moved next to Abbie as another one was tying Sam up while she looked at Abbie. It was as if I could see the wheels on her brain turning desperately.

\- "Sam." –I whispered- "No."

I knew fully well what she was thinking by the time she fell to the ground and fought the guards.

\- "What is she doing?" –Monty whispered.

\- "She's helping my mom."

\- "We have to do something."

\- "Figure out how to irradiate the level now, Monty." –I commanded.

\- "If we do this..." –Clarke looked at me.

\- "I know." –I faced her- "There's no going back."

Sam had been tied up to the stretcher now but seemed to be speaking with Cage, gaining time, as a guy on a white coat approached them and ripped Sam's pants. I lost it.

\- "Let her go!" –I screamed at the walkie, hoping one of the guards in the dorms had one and could hear me.

I saw Sam's eyes widen as she heard my voice and Cage took a walkie out of her pocket. _Of course, she'd have one._

\- "So, you're the intruder that's caused me so many issues."

\- "Let her go!"

\- "You're in no position to negotiate." –Cage proclaimed- "I'm seeing Samantha has some impressive scars."

\- "Yeah, let's just say it's been a long couple of months."

I heard Sam's voice again, which would have helped me relax if I didn't know what was about to happen to her.

\- "What now?" –Clarke sighed looking at another monitor.

I turned around to see what she was talking about.  _O! She was supposed to be safe! Will these two ever not be in trouble?_ She was running through the corridors of Mount Weather and ended up on the mess hall, surrounded by guards.

\- "Bellamy, any last words for your lover?" –Cage voice came through the radio.

\- "I'm sorry." –I whispered defeated.

\- "Not what I was expecting but alright. Any last words, Samantha?"

\- "Yeah. See you in hell."

\- "Is that the last thing you wanna tell him?" –Cage laughed- "Really?"

\- "No, I'll see you in hell, Cage."

\- "No last words for him, then?"

\- "I'm sorry too."

A banging noise on the door startled us as I felt my eyes fill up with tears.

\- "Emerson, he's here." –Clarke seemed to panic for a second.

\- "Jasper! They got him too." - Monty stated as he stopped typing and pressing keys.

\- "Why are you stopping?" –Clarke demanded.

\- "Because I did it. All we have to do it pull this." -Monty pointed at a lever next to me- "Hatches and vents will open and the scrubbers will reverse pulling in outside air."

I looked at the screens surrounding us and saw Emerson next to our door.

\- "He's gonna blow the door." –I said taking out my gun pointing it at the door.

\- "Guys, we're out of time." –Monty's voice showed the worry and panic he felt.

Clarke placed her hand on the lever but didn't pull it, she couldn't. I glanced at her before seeing Octavia on her knees on one of the screens and Sam with her fists clenched as they drilled her thigh on another.  _I can't lose them, I won't._  I lowered my gun and placed my hand over Clarke's.

\- "My family, my responsibility." –I whispered looking at both screens.

\- "I have to save them." –Clarke looked up at me.

I nodded at her, who had tears in her eyes, as I wrapped my hand around hers and started pulling the lever down. As we did, a monitor started beeping as Monty frantically looked to the screens in front of him.

\- "Guys, it's working."

I focused my eyes on the screens were Sam and O were, praying to whoever was listening it wasn't too late. An alarm was triggered as the air from outside reached the level and the Mountain People started to fall to the ground as the air burnt their skins and their lungs. Cage left the dorm as Emerson flew from the door, seeing themselves in disadvantage now.

\- "Let's go get out people."

**OCTAVIA'S POV**

After we got Maya to Level 5, Jasper decided he'd rather stay with her.

\- "What's your plan, then?" –I questioned.

\- "Kill Cage."

\- "I'm in."

\- "I know someone who can help us, I'll be back."

Maya and Jasper hugged before she left to find whoever she was talking about. Soon after, Jasper started to pace the room nervously, so I decided to tell him what Indra taught me.

\- "Jasper, a warrior doesn't worry about what he can't control."

As I said that and as if on cue, Maya entered the room followed by the guard, who took his gun out as soon as he landed eyes on me.

\- "Lee, put down the gun."

\- "You didn't say there was an outsider."

\- "She's not an outsider." –Jasper moved next to me.

\- "Yes, she is." –I corrected him, blade on my hands.

\- "She's with us." –Maya stressed- "Cage's in the dorm. They brought another group in from the Ark. They're not even trying to fix the dam."

\- "How many soldiers with Cage?" –Jasper asked the guard.

\- "Six. No, just four now." –he corrected himself- "A Grounder girl killed two before running away from other two, why?"

\- "A Grounder? I thought they let them all go." –Jasper questioned looking at Maya.

\- "It wasn't a Grounder, it was Sam." –I faced the guard- "Is she alive?"

\- "For now, yes. But I think she's next on the drill so she doesn't have much time."

\- "Alright." –Jasper handed his rifle to Maya- "Just get me close to him. They'll be happy you found another eight doses. I need a..."

\- "Here." –I handed him one of my blades- "Aim for the throat. Slash, don't stab. Make it deep." –I instructed him and he nodded.

\- "I hope you know what you're doing." –the guard said while handcuffing him.

\- "Me too."

I moved back to leave him and Maya some space, although I could still hear them since the room wasn't that big. Once Jasper left, Maya turned around and we kept silent for a moment before she spoke.

\- "Long way from the Ark, huh?"

\- "Not my Ark. I didn't have a view either."

\- "Still, I wish I could see it."

I looked at her, fully comprehending what she meant.

\- "Hey, maybe you can." –I realized- "There's an airlock, we used it to hold Emerson. All we have to do is get you there and..."

\- "So, I could live in a cell?" –she cut me.

\- "At least you could live."

Suddenly, the door behind us opened and a couple making out came through. As soon as they saw me they panicked and ran away yelling for the guards as I followed them. Two guards appeared in front of me as the couple hid behind a column. I threw my sword to one of them, hitting him in the chest and kicked the other on the knee, making him fall before stabbing him with the blade that I tore from his partner's dead body. I turned around, seeing Maya looking down at the dead bodies but with no time to speak as more guards appeared from behind her. She yelled for me to run and follow her, so I did. We ended up in a big room, where all her people seemed to have gathered and where we were soon surrounded by guards and put on our knees. I thought they were getting ready to shoot us when suddenly, everyone around me started coughing and their skin started to look burnt. I looked at Maya and she was no better, so I rose up and moved next to her, kneeling down and taking her in my arms, hoping that Jasper could manage to get to her before she died.

\- "Maya!" –Jasper's voice made me look around until I found him.

He took her in her arms and started to tear up.

\- "I'm here." –he whispered to her- "She was innocent."

\- "None of us is innocent."

Those were Maya's last words before she took her last breath and died in Jasper's arms. I knew nothing of what I could say or do would make a difference for him now, so as he kept holding Maya's body and after sparing a glance at me, I rose up and run up to the dorms hoping to find everyone else there. I was sure Bellamy was fine, knowing it had had to be him, Monty and Clarke the ones who irradiated the level. As for Sam... I could only hope they hadn't been too late this time. Once I got there, I stormed through the door and was almost paralyzed when I saw the scene in front of me.

\- "Hey, get the keys from the guard!" –Kane instructed me.

\- "Where's my sister? Where's Sam?" –I asked going through the guard's pockets.

\- "On the table..."

Abbie answered me as I set her free and handed her the keys. I turned around and walked up to the stretcher, it being clear now it was Sam there.

\- "Sam! Sam, it's me. It's O." –I said touching her cheek- "It's over."

I knew she was alive because her chest kept moving up and down as she breathed slowly. A tear ran down her face as I kissed her cheek.

\- "Don't leave me, O."

\- "I would never." –I assured her, taking her hand on mine- "You're okay, Sam. Let me get rid of these ties, alright?"

Sam nodded and closed her eyes again. I unfastened first the belt around her neck which was way too tight and, as soon as I took it off, I saw the bruise on her neck that had started to form.  _Oh, Sam._  I felt tears in my eyes as I unfastened the resting belts keeping her still on the stretcher. Abbie soon came next to me.

\- "Samantha." –she addressed her and Sam opened her eyes slowly- "Thank you."

\- "Anytime." –Sam smiled.

Abbie moved to check her leg as I stood next to her head, stroking her hair.

\- "Let's get her sat up, alright?" –Abbie told me and I nodded.

\- "Ready, Sam?"

\- "As ready as I'll ever be, honestly."

With my help and Abbie's, Sam managed to sit still on the table and, as soon as she was up, she hugged me.

\- "This is, by far, the worst idea you've ever had." –I said, hugging her back.

\- "Trust me, I know." –she chuckled on my hair- "I think I might have learned my lesson this time."

I let go of her and moved back to see her face; we were both crying by now and the war paint on her face was running down her cheeks.

\- "Sheda won't be happy you ruined his masterpiece."

\- "I hope he'll be happy he's getting at least the canvas back in one piece." –Sam rolled her eyes and smiled.

I was so wrapped up on my conversation with Sam that I didn't realize Kane and Abbie had set free everyone by now nor had I heard the door open, revealing Clarke, Monty, and Bellamy until we were interrupted.

\- "Sam!"

Clarke's voice made us look away from each other and towards her, who was hugging her mom but, as soon as she saw Sam, she approached her.

**CLARKE'S POV**

\- "Thank you." –I said hugging Sam as Octavia moved back- "Thank you for helping my mom." –I looked into her eyes and she nodded- "But don't ever do that again."

\- "I think I've learned my lesson Clarke, I'm never again getting inside a mountain without at least two fully loaded guns." –Sam chuckled.

\- "I mean it, Sam."

\- "Me too. I'm going to need a new job now." –she smiled at me- "You've done good today, Clarke; you've saved all these people."

\- "By killing dozens in the process."

\- "There wasn't another way." –she sighed.

\- "I'm glad you're alive."

\- "For once, I'm gonna have to agree." –Sam chuckled and I smiled as I saw my mom making signs for me to go with her- "Go help her."

\- "Thank you."

\- "Stop thanking me or next time I may actually stop to consider my actions before doing something stupid."

I nodded and started to move away from Sam when I heard Bellamy's voice.

\- "Please, do."


	23. I'm in love with you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy and Samantha reunite after the events at Mount Weather.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

As soon as Emerson left the door, the three of us got out of the control center and moved back to go to the dorm; Clarke and Monty probably sensed my impatience to get there as soon as possible, so we started running: I needed to find O and Sam. Once we made it to the mess hall, the scene in front of us was sickening: we were surrounded by dozens of dead people with their skins burnt but what really hit me was the pain in Jasper's eyes; he was kneeled in the middle of the hall with Maya's limp body in his arms and tears running down his face.

\- "What did you do?" –he questioned looking at the three of us.

\- "We had no choice." –Clarke's voice broke.

\- "I was gonna kill Cage. If you'd given me one more minute, it'd have been over."

\- "Jasper." –I tried to reason with him as the tears filled my own eyes- "They never would've stopped."

Jasper looked at me and shook his head before looking back down at Maya.

\- "I..." –I started.

\- "Let's go." –Clarke nodded, knowing what I meant.

We left Monty behind with Jasper as we both moved back to the dorm.

\- "Octavia must have come here as soon as, well..."

\- "Yeah, I hope so."

As we got there, the door was opened and everyone had been freed from their handcuffs. The guards were lying on the ground, some I knew Sam had killed and some we had. I let my eyes wander around the room until I found just the two people my heart had been aching to see again: Octavia was standing in between Sam's legs as she was sat on the stretcher with her pants tore down and blood all over her legs. I wanted to move to them but I was paralyzed for a moment until Clarke's voice brought me back.

\- "Sam!" –she yelled while letting go of her mom, startling both Sam and O- "Thank you." –she said hugging her- "Thank you for helping my mom. But don't ever do that again."

Octavia moved back to let them some space and I walked up to her.

\- "O."

\- "Bell!"

Octavia came towards me and we hugged for a moment until she broke the hug, looking up at me, with a small smile on her black-paint-covered face.

\- "Go." –she said turning around, landing her eyes on Sam- "She needs you."

I nodded and took a deep breath, I had been wanting to see her since the night I left, I wanted to hold her and kiss her but now I was somewhat scared.

\- "Thank you." –Clarke told Sam before moving away from her.

\- "Stop thanking me or next time I may actually stop to consider my actions before doing something stupid."–Sam smiled at her retrieving figure.

\- "Please, do." –I found my strength back and walked up to her.

She turned her face, which was covered in black paint like Octavia's, with a petrified look on it as she eyed me until I stood right in front of her; then, she did something I was not expecting: she moved her hands to the top of my vest, efficiently pulling me closer to her until I stood in between her legs as she closed her eyes and crashed her lips against mine. As I felt them on mine, my eyes immediately shut and my hands moved quickly to cup her face as I slowly kissed her back. Her lips were soft and she tasted like blood, or maybe it was my blood, but I couldn't have cared any less. It was slow and short for she had to pull away to breathe as I smiled happily resting my forehead on hers.

\- "Sam..." –I started, feeling it was now or never.

\- "No, wait." –she cut me off, making me move back to worriedly look into her eyes.  _Does she regret this?_ \- "I have to get this off my chest; I should have done so as soon as I realized how I felt, but I was scared I'd lose you, what we have..." –she looked into my eyes, almost asking for permission to keep going, so I nodded and she took a deep breath before continuing- "Alright, so, maybe by now this means nothing to you because you know me better than anyone else; you know I'd die for our people... hell! I'd die for you over and over again, Bellamy! If the inevitable happened and it came to a point where I couldn't save someone, I know it would hurt but I also know I'd be able to live past that because that's what we do, we survive. But, if I lost you..." –her voice broke as a tear fell down her face- "...I was so mad when Lexa told us about her deal with Cage, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was about to lose you, I... I just couldn't." –she blinked hard a couple times as tears started pooling down her cheeks- "It scared me like shit thinking there was an actual possibility of never seeing you again. I don't know when it happened or how it started or if it was too slow or too fast... I know nothing honestly, but the truth is I'm so utterly in love with you Bellamy Blake that, for the first time in my life, I was actually afraid of death."

Her eyes never left mine. They were glossy with tears but they showed me so many emotions along with her words that my heart ached; I saw the love and truthfulness of her words even if I already knew she'd never lie to me; I caught a glimpse of doubt in her eyes that I couldn't quite place; but what truly caught my attention was the fear and the pain her eyes showcased for fear was something I was not used to seeing on Sam.

\- "And, well, you know..." –she said letting go of me as the silence followed her words- "...maybe you don't feel the same and like, I completely understand but please, if you're gonna break my heart, can it wait until tomorrow? I don't think I can handle another broken thing today." –she almost whispered, becoming shy all of a sudden- "Or maybe it'd be better to just get it over with..."

She had lowered her head now, looking down at her fingers as she played nervously with a strip of her broken pants.  _The doubt in her eyes is not a doubt about her feelings for me but rather of mine for her._  She was terrified I wouldn't return her feelings which sounded so incomprehensible to me that I had to smile. I placed one of my hands over hers, making her stop her distraction and pulled her chin up with the other, making her look me in the eyes as hers showed the worry, shyness and anxiety she was probably feeling before I spoke.  _Alright, this is it._

\- "Sam, listen to me very carefully. I would never do anything to harm you, you know that, right?" –she nodded- "I think I've liked you since the first time you confronted me, even if I wore that guard jacket and was obviously older than you, you weren't scared of me, not even a hitch of hesitation in your voice each time you told me shit as it was. From that day onwards, you've had my undivided attention, even if at times it didn't seem like it. I think I've loved you a little bit more every day for who you are, for what you do and how you do it. I think I realized I was in love with you the day we fought the Grounder army." –I smiled stroking her cheek- "I've been falling for you slowly every day since I first saw you, Sam. I love every bit of you from your stubbornness to your selflessness, from your tears to your smiles and from your recklessness to your commitment to doing what's right. And it's for all these, that I'd have never thought you'd fall in love with someone like me." –I confessed as she lightly shook her head, a small smile on her lips- "All I want is to love you and keep you safe, Sam; even if you make the latter tremendously difficult." –I chuckled as I felt the heat on her cheek as she laughed softly- "But it's so worth it, Sam, because you've made it so easy for me to love you. And I have to say this, I don't love you only for what you already know or because obviously O adores you and you've taken care of her when I couldn't, I love you for who you are and how I feel when I'm with you: you don't judge me for the things I've fucked up and the Gods know there are a lot of those to choose from, you've made it easy for me to open up to you to the point in which being vulnerable with you felt right, you've encouraged me to believe I'm good, you make me want to be better and, in all honesty, you've done so much for me I could write books about it and about all the things I love about you and I wouldn't have enough time in the world to finish them."

I wanted to say so many things but I couldn't find the words, I wasn't sure I was even making sense by now so I just stood there, looking into her eyes in silence. As I had been talking a couple tears had run down her face, and most definitely down mine, and she had moved one of her hands to intertwine her fingers with mine.

\- "Sam, what I'm trying to say is I'm in love with you." –I whispered moving closer to her- "I can't picture my life without you in it."

\- "I love you, Bell." –she smiled looking at my eyes before glancing at my lips.

\- "Can I kiss you?"

\- "You don't have to ask."

She let go of my hand and moved both of hers to the back of my neck as I leaned into her lips. It was different this time; the kiss was hungrier than the first, as if we were both trying to show with our actions what our words couldn't begin to explain. I moved one of my hands to the back of her neck to pull her closer, as if that were even possible, while I stroke her left cheek with the other. The taste of our salty tears was mixed with the taste of blood, officially making our firsts kisses bittersweet. I let go off her for a second to catch my breath before attaching my lips to hers again, kissing her deep and slow just how I had fallen for her. The situation was far from how I'd have liked it to be but, somehow, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I knew now that Sam was as in love with me as I was with her and that made everything seem better. As we broke the kiss, I rested my head on her shoulder as she hugged me and stroke my hair and I let out a sigh of contentment.

\- "Well, well, well."

I straightened myself, never fully losing contact with Sam, to see Octavia standing next to us with a self-satisfied smirk on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.

\- "It took you both some time, didn't it?"

Octavia smiled and I chuckled as Sam hid her most definitely red face in my chest.

\- "It did." –I chuckled before kissing Sam's head.

\- "And, as much as I'd like to prolong this scene because honestly, you both are so cute right now, I think we should go."

\- "She's right." –Sam looked at me and tried to get down from the stretcher.

\- "You're not walking, Sam." –I stopped her- "Look at your leg, you'll fall as soon as you put your feet on the ground." –she rolled her eyes at me- "Cute." –I smiled- "Hold on to me."

\- "You can't carry me all the way back to the Ark, Bellamy. It's a six-hour walk, and that's me being optimistic."

\- "I can and I will." -I stood in between her legs with my back to her- "Don't fight me now."

\- "Fine."

Sam moved closer to me until her chest rested on my back and wrapped her arms around my neck before placing her head over my right shoulder as I moved my hands to the back of her thighs, pulling her up, helping her wrap her legs around my waist.

\- "I feel like a backpack." –Sam proclaimed- "Or a baby, honestly." –she sighed- "I'm sorry you always end up carrying me around."

\- "As if he minded having you glued to him." –Octavia chuckled walking in front of us now that everyone had left.

\- "I only mind because this only happens when you get hurt." –I explained to her, moving my head to the side to see her.

\- "You shouldn't have said that." –I could hear the smirk on Sam's face.

\- "Why?"

\- "Cause now that I know you don't care... I'm going to make you carry me around camp all the time." –she grinned at me- "I'm honestly getting tired of all this running around."

\- "If that means you're staying close to me all the time, you've got yourself a deal."

\- "I've been around you literally since we landed, Blake." –Sam chuckled- "It proved hard not to, to be completely honest with you."

\- "I'm going to vomit and you've just kissed for the first time." –Octavia rolled her eyes at us- "I don't even want to know how you both are going to be once Sam's all healed up. It's going to be unbearable."

\- "O, I still love you, you know?" –I could feel the smile on Sam's voice.

\- "I mean, of course." –Octavia laughed.

\- "And for your information, I've kissed your brother three times." –I felt the laughter in Sam's chest as she placed one of her hands with three fingers up in front of us for O to see, making me chuckle.

\- "I'm so happy for you two, you deserve to be happy." –O took Sam's hand in hers placing it back around my neck- "But I gotta say I don't need all the details."

\- "Thank you, O."

Sam nodded to my words before letting her head fall on my shoulder again. It was a long walk back to camp and we stopped a couple times to rest, finding Lincoln in one of our stops. He told us about how Sheda told him about, as he had put it, Sam's stupid idea and how he'd managed to escape from the Grounder's camp and was on his way back to the Mountain to help us when he found Cage walking around the forest. Cage tried to attack him with a blade, which Lincoln took away from him and used to kill him.

\- "I believe this is yours, Sam." –Lincoln handed the blade to Sam, who was lying in between my legs, her back to my chest as I looked curiously at it.

\- "It's Oreth's blade, isn't it?" –Sam questioned and Lincoln nodded- "Thank you, Lincoln, for finishing what I couldn't and for bringing the blade back to me. I'm glad you're alright, big bro."

Lincoln helped me carry Sam back to camp as we kept turns carrying her, which she gracefully accepted naming herself 'the potato sack', making Octavia laugh and wish we had potatoes around. It was midday once we finally arrived at Camp Jaha. Monty and Clarke had joined Sam and me at the back of the group and we were the last to reach the entrance.

\- "Bell, wait." –Sam asked me- "I think we may have an issue here."

\- "What?"

\- "Turn around."

I did as she told me and I saw Monty hugging Clarke.

\- "I think she's leaving, you should go talk to her."

\- "You're coming with me, then."

\- "Bellamy, I think it'd be better if I just stay here. Put me down on the ground, I promise I won't move."

\- "Why?"

\- "It's going to be a serious conversation and carrying me like a baby doesn't fit the mood. Come on, you know I'm right. Besides, you are the leader here, not me."

As much as I wanted Sam to come with me, I had a feeling she was right so I finally lowered her to the ground.

\- "Aren't you feeling better now without my dead weight on your back?" –Sam smiled up at me as I stood kneeled in front of her- "Now, go. I'll be here."

\- "I love you." –I said kissing her.

\- "I love you too but now go, we have all the time in the world to kiss but Clarke needs you now."

I rose up just as Monty left Clarke alone and walked towards us and nodded at me as I walked up to Clarke.

\- "I'd say we deserve a drink." –I said standing next to her.

\- "Have one for me."

\- "We can get through this."

\- "I'm not going in."

\- "Clarke, if you need forgiveness I'll give that to you." –I turned to face her- "You're forgiven. Now, please, come inside."

\- "Take care of them for me." –she looked at me before looking at Sam who was talking with Monty now, both sat together smiling on the grass- "I'm glad Sam's alive."

\- "Don't change the subject." –I said, knowing what she was trying to do- "Why?"

\- "Seeing their faces every day will remind me of what I did to get them here."

\- "We did this, you weren't alone pulling the lever."

\- "I bear it so they don't have to." -she recalled Dante's words and hugged me- "May we meet again."

I let go of her and she turned to leave.

\- "Clarke!" –Sam yelled as I saw her standing up with the help of Monty, making Clarke turn around- "Stop right there, princess."

\- "Sam, stop moving." –I said hurrying next to her and placing my hand around her waist to hold her still, freeing Monty to go inside the camp.

\- "Don't boss me around just yet, Blake." –she said grabbing my vest- "Get me to Clarke."

\- "Sam..." –Clarke smiled walking up to us- "You need to get inside now and get that wound taken care of."

\- "You were leaving without saying goodbye." –Sam faced her- "Where are you gonna go?"

\- "I don't know, but I'm not going inside."

\- "Clarke, I know nothing of what I say will ease your feelings but just know I'd have pulled that lever too; in a heartbeat. I should have stayed with you so that it'd been me pulling it down."

\- "Sam..."

\- "Wait, I'm not done. I also know you need time to think but just know you're going to have to hide yourself real good because, as soon as I'm fixed, I'm going after you." –Sam pocked Clarke's shoulder with a smirk on her face.

\- "You can't do that."

\- "Why?" –Sam scoffed- "Clarke, Bellamy and you are the leaders of this place, even if the adults still think otherwise."

\- "You'll do great."

\- "When I said I'd need a new job, I didn't mean yours."

Clarke smiled and shook her head. Sam let go of me and hugged Clarke tightly.

\- "Stay alive, Clarke." –I heard Sam whisper into Clarke's hair and pulling away- "You didn't survive all this way just to be killed by a panther, remember we ate the first one? Keep it that way."

\- "I'll try." –Clarke laughed letting go of Sam as I placed my hand around her waist to keep her from falling- "May we meet again, Sam."

\- "Oh, trust me, we will. Sooner or later, I'll find you, princess."

\- "Don't let her anywhere near that fence." –Clarke asked me.

\- "Hey!" –Sam protested- "I'm still standing right here."- "Take care of everyone for me, Sam."

Sam nodded as Clarke turned around and started to walk away from us.

\- "She'll be fine." –Sam spoke resting her head on my shoulder.

\- "I know."

I moved my free hand to the back of her knees to pick her up as she moved one arm around my neck and grabbed my vest with the other hand.

\- "Now, let's get you home."

\- "I'm already home."

She kissed my jaw lightly before resting her head on my shoulder and I smiled feeling completely happy since we landed, knowing I had the love of my life with me.  _This is home._


	24. Now I know I'm not alone.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This season's bonus chapter is so cute, thank you.

**BELLAMY'S POV**

I took Sam back inside the camp and straight to the medical center where Abbie was already taking care of Raven's leg with the help of Jackson.

\- "We'll be with you in a second." –Jackson greeted us- "I'm glad you're back in one piece."

\- "Don't mind me, I'm doing great over here." –Sam smiled softly at Jackson as I let her down on the bed- "And I'm glad to see you too; maybe next time it should be without me getting some part of my body fixed." –she chuckled as Jackson nodded smiling before getting back to Raven.

\- "You wouldn't be here if you had stayed out of the drilling zone." –I pointed out, sitting next to her on the bed.

\- "Yeah, and then Abbie would be in my place and we wouldn't have an experienced doctor around here, how's that for a great plan, huh?"

\- "I told you not to risk your life." –I reminded her.

\- "You know? I technically didn't." –she smiled up at me.

\- "Then what was that back at the mountain and how did you get this?" –I raised an eyebrow glancing at her bloody leg.

\- "It was a minor misunderstanding."

She laughed and, even if I tried to fight my own laugh back, I finally gave in and laughed with her.

\- "I can't with you, Sam." –I smiled, caressing her cheek.

\- "Well, you aren't getting rid of me that easily. Not now, anyway."

I lowered down and kissed her, feeling the smile on her lips, when someone cleared their throat next to us.

\- "Sorry to interrupt guys." –Abbie stood next to the bed with a soft smile on her face- "It's time to get that leg taken care of."

I nodded and moved from the bed to leave space for Abbie to do her thing, standing on the opposite side. I watched as she and Jackson fixed up Sam's leg while I stroke her hair.  _We've been here way too many times already._

\- "You need blood?" –I questioned after a moment.

\- "I think this time won't be necessary, the tourniquet you made was pretty efficient."

\- "I owe you another life, would you look at that?"

\- "You came in for me, it's the least I could do."

I smiled at Sam, who had closed her eyes now, so I simply took her hand in mine and caressed it with my thumb. After a couple more minutes, Sam's leg had a rather peculiar-looking new scar on it.

\- "No heavy exercise at least for the next two weeks, Sam." –Abbie instructed her- "And this time you're going to take it seriously."

\- "Well, it looks like that introductory lesson will have to wait, Blake." –Sam chuckled opening her eyes and glancing at me with an eyebrow raised and a mischievous smirk on her lips as I felt the heat rushing to my face.

\- "What introductory lesson?" –Abbie questioned crossing her arms over her chest looking up at me before facing Sam again.

\- "Nothing really, Bellamy was going to teach me how to fight properly." –Sam lied, smiling at Abbie.

\- "I'm sure you already know how to defend yourself, Samantha."

\- "Yeah, I'm decent when I have a weapon on me but I may need to fight without those hand-to-hand, you know? Throw a good punch here and there..."

\- "I'd say you're far more than decent." –Abbie answered before looking at me- "Go easy on her the first time at least, I don't want to see her again in here anytime soon."

\- "I will." –I nodded at Abbie before smirking at Sam.

Abbie gave us a confused look before taking her things and moving away from us, an opportunity that Sam took to burst into laughter.

\- "You should have seen your face." –she breathed out in between laughs- "I can't!"

\- "Yeah? So, this is how it's going to be?" –I said looking down at her as tears started rolling down her face- "I'll give you something to laugh about."

I got up on the bed, straddling her hips to make sure she wouldn't move her wounded leg and started tickling her sides.

\- "Bellamy, no! Stop it, I can't!" –she tried to catch my hands and get rid of me- "Ugh, Bellamy, please!" –she yelled in between laughs- "Fine! You win, I'm sorry, please stop this torture."

\- "Now, that's what I like to hear." –I said letting her catch her breath, placing one hand next to her face as I wiped the tears from her cheek.

\- "What is it?" –she smiled catching my hand in hers- "Me letting you win?" –she smirked.

\- "I'm pretty sure I won on my own merits, love."

\- "How is that fair if I can't move?" –she raised an eyebrow at me- "You literally trapped me under you so you'd have an advantage."

\- "I'll let you try again once your leg is fully healed." –I kissed her forehead- "But I meant my name on your lips."

\- "Ugh, shut up." –she laughed covering her face with her arms.

\- "You win." –I said raising up and lying next to her on my side- "This time." –I kissed her arm.

\- "Stop being so charming, Blake."

\- "Now, that's new."

\- "Please..." –she moved her arms away from her face and turned her face to look at me- "Wait, no. You do have a point." –she grinned- "Your charm is definitely not what draws people to you if you know what I mean." –she smirked looking me up and down.

\- "You're going to have to control yourself for the next couple of weeks, Sam, I know it'll be difficult being around me and I'm so sorry for you." –I chuckled.

\- "I've controlled myself for over 18 years, I think I can handle myself just fine, thanks. But you... Oh, love, I'm not so sure." –she raised her eyebrow at me.

\- "I'll wait for you." –I moved my hand to her cheek- "I only want to be with you."

\- "I'm really glad to hear that." –she said as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

\- "Did you doubt it?"

\- "Well, you've behaved yourself pretty nicely since we got here the first time." –she chuckled lightly- "And it's not like I doubt you, it's just... I don't know, you've been with other people before and I can't help but wonder if I can live up to that..."

\- "Hey." –I cut her off placing a finger over her lips- "Sam, just because I've had sex before and you haven't, doesn't mean I don't want to be with you like that. Trust me, I do." –she chuckled- "Sure, the first time will probably not be that great and you may feel awkward but I promise I'll take care of you." –I kissed her neck- "And from then, we can move on and figure out what you like and what you're comfortable with and most definitely what we both enjoy." –I winked at her.

\- "I'm starting to think running after Emerson may not have been my brightest idea after all." –she smiled and moved closer to me- "I love you." –she kissed my jaw.

\- "I love you too." –I kissed the tip of her nose as I felt my heart racing- "But now that I think about it, Abbie said no heavy exercise, she didn't say anything about light one..." –she looked up at me with a questioning look- "You're just really hard to resist, especially now that we've cleared how we feel about each other."

\- "Are you implying you've had to control yourself around me before?" –she chuckled lightly, amused.

\- "Yeah, a little." –I confessed looking at her- "I didn't want to fuck things up with you. I mean, I can't deny I've found you attractive since we landed and I knew you liked me too, at least my body because you wouldn't keep your eyes off me." –I chuckled.

\- "Seriously?" –she raised her eyebrows- "You were walking around camp showcasing your body for the whole world to see. Last time I checked, you didn't seem to mind my eyes on you and checking out makes no harm now, does it?"

\- "I liked how you'd check me out shamelessly, you wouldn't hide what you were doing. Always so blunt."

\- "Bellamy, everyone on camp checked you out like 24/7, are you not aware of how stupidly attractive you are?" –she giggled.

\- "Not like you, Sam; I liked having your attention on me." –I tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear- "But I knew what we had, or were beginning to have, was much more than physical... I never wanted to just have sex with you and then move on to someone else; I wanted to make sure you knew you were, and are, important to me; you could never be a one night stand."

\- "Why are you telling me this now?"

\- "Because I want to make sure you know how I truly feel and, hopefully, that'd clear away any fears you may have regarding having sex with me. I want you to know that you don't have to rush into it for me, I'd wait for you for another 18 years if necessary; I want to make sure you know I want you for more than just your body. I mean, I enjoy sex as much as the next person but the only one I want to do it with is you. It's been like that for a while now."

\- "Are you trying to make me cry? Because if so, you're going in the right direction."

\- "Sam, I want all of you."

\- "I know you don't want me just for my body; if that were the case, you'd have left a long time ago seeing I'm a virgin and had no intentions of being a one night stand." –she argued pulling me towards her until I was lying over her, keeping my weight up from her with the help of my elbows- "I'm in love with you, Bellamy, and I know the bond we've built is based on mutual trust and respect, so I know you'd never use me or lie to me."

\- "I'm so in love with you."

I leaned down to kiss her as her hands found their way to my hair and the back of my neck, pulling me closer before we had to break apart to breathe. I rested my forehead on hers and sighed happily as she played with my hair.

\- "So, you were saying something about light exercise." –she grinned playfully at me- "What did you have in mind?"

I chuckled before moving my hand to her face, tracing her cheekbone to her jawline to her lips that parted slightly as I outlined them.

\- "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do this."

\- "I think I may have an idea of my own."

She smiled before moving her head up to catch my lips.

\- "Get a room, you two!"

Sam and I broke apart, startled by the interruption.

\- "Have you been listening all this time and only now decide to interfere?" –Sam moved her head to the side, smiling at Raven while I moved back onto the bed, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

\- "I was actually passed out and woke up like 2 minutes ago and couldn't help but listen a little before it started getting heated. It took you two some damn time." –Raven and Sam laughed- "I'm happy for you, Sam."

\- "How's your leg?"

\- "I'll survive. I have to thank you again."

\- "Why? You got drilled because I didn't set you free on time."

\- "Sam, it's a miracle you made it that far without being noticed, let alone getting rid of all those guards and surviving to tell the tale. If it weren't for you, I'm sure they'd have drilled me for longer and I'd be probably dead."

\- "A miracle? More like an incredible set of abilities, a great mind, and a stubborn ass." –Sam chuckled and Raven scoffed- "You're alive because you're a fighter, Raven, you're most definitely the strongest person in this camp, so thank yourself."

\- "Don't be ridiculous, have you seen yourself?"

\- "Actually no, it's been a while since I've seen my own face. I hope I'm looking fabulous." –Sam laughed.

\- "You're covered in blood and black paint and sweat and tears." –I stated from beside her.

\- "So, the usual."

\- "You are beautiful, Sam."

\- "Now you're just saying that because you wanna get laid."

\- "Seriously, get a room." –Raven laughed- "I can't handle the sexual tension between you two."

\- "Fine with me."

I rose up from Sam's bed and walked up to the other side as she looked confused at me. I placed an arm underneath her knees and the other under her shoulders and picked her up as she moved her arms to hold onto my neck and vest.

\- "Get me to Raven first, please."

Sam pleaded and I complied. She let go of my me and sat on the bed next to Raven as she hugged her and kissed her cheek.

\- "Before you both leave and move forward..." –Raven started and looked at me and I knew what she meant- "...are you feeling as awkward as me right now?"

\- "A little, yeah. We need to clear this first."

\- "It didn't mean anything to me."

\- "Yeah, it was just sex."

\- "Quick and with no strings attached."

\- "Now I'm the one feeling awkward." –Sam spoke as she shifted her gaze from Raven to me- "My best friend and my..." –she looked at me- "...whatever you and I are now, had sex; that's something I never thought I'd say." –she chuckled.

\- "Are you alright?" –I quickly asked, worried I had fucked up by bringing it up.

\- "Guys, relax. I know it was just sex, it's something people do on a daily basis." –she looked up at me- "You and I weren't together so this is not of my business; besides, you both kind of unnecessarily apologized to me after that so I'd say this had already been dealt with."

Raven let out a breath of relief and hugged Sam as I relaxed.

\- "Just don't do it again." –Sam laughed as she let go of Raven.

\- "Ew, gross." –Raven laughed.

\- "I'm all yours, Sam." –I said taking her in my arms again.

\- "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." –Raven warned me as we moved away.

\- "Oh, no." –Sam was quick to answer- "If he hurts me, I'll kill him myself."

\- "So much love in the air, thank you both."

\- "I know you never would." –Sam looked lovingly up at me.

\- "Good." –I smiled kissing her forehead.

\-------------------------------------------

I sat on the bed, watching as Sam washed the black paint and blood away from her face. She had thrown her jacket on the bed next to me and was wearing a black tank top and her ripped pants which had allowed me to see most of the scars on her body: the scar on her left thigh from the day we went to look for O and Lincoln stabbed her; the scar on her right shoulder from the day she jumped inside the dropship when Murphy held us hostage; the scar on her neck and her outer left thigh from the day we fought the Grounders; the scar on her right triceps made by Lexa the day we got our truce; a couple of more recent scars I couldn't recognize; and, finally, the new scar on her right thigh from the drilling in the Mountain alongside the bruises in her wrists and neck from the belts that tied her to the table. I was pretty sure out of the 100, she had the higher number of wounds yet she stood tall and ready to get a thousand more if necessary. I allowed my thoughts to wander and quickly found myself thinking of the times she slept with me and we started talking about our lives back in the Ark, which got me thinking how I'd have never met her if she hadn't been sent to the ground and I hadn't sneak inside the dropship.

\- "Quit staring at me like that, Blake. It's creepy."

Sam's light-hearted voice brought me back to the present. She was leaning back on the sink, arms crossed over her chest and a playful smile on her now clean face, which allowed me to see a new scar on her cheek.

\- "What were you thinking about? You were lost deep in thought."

\- "I was just mentally thanking myself for sneaking into the dropship."

\- "Really?" –she raised an eyebrow playfully at me- "Care to explain how landing on Earth with 97 teenagers and your sister is good news at all?"

\- "If I recall correctly, you were already 18, so that'd make it 96 teenagers, my sister, and an adult." –I argued standing up and walking up to her.

\- "You said I was just an 'older kid'..." –she air-quoted my words- "...when we were at the river and I learned you're 5 years older than me."

\- "You still are." –I smiled resting my hands on her hips- "I was just thinking how we'd have never met if we hadn't come down here."

\- "I think I can say without a trace of regret I'm certainly glad we ended up here." –she grinned resting her hands on my chest- "I don't know how my life would have turned out if the lack of air hadn't been an issue on the Ark and, quite honestly, I don't wanna find out because I'm sure that'd mean you wouldn't be in it and that's something I can't even begin to process."

\- "You'd definitely have much fewer scars." –I said tracing a scar on her right forearm.

\- "I'd happily take a thousand more if that means you'll stay with me."

I locked my eyes with hers as she spoke, feeling my heart racing and the blood burning in my veins; her eyes were clear and full on love and I couldn't help but wish we could stay like that forever.

\- "I love you." –I spoke ghosting my lips over hers, closing my eyes.

\- "What a coincidence." –I felt her lips turn up into a smile against mine- "I love you too."

I chuckled lightly before kissing her, allowing our lips to showcase our feelings for each other without the need to speak. Her lips felt soft and wet from the remains of water still attached to them; her hands were now on the back of my neck, playing with my hair and I couldn't help but grunt in approval as my hands landed on the back of her thighs, pulling her up against me as she wrapped her legs around my waist. She broke the kiss to breathe and I had to raise my head a little to meet her eyes since she was now standing taller than me.  _I love you._  She quickly pulled me in again for a heated kiss as if she had read my mind. I moved us both to the bed, laying her on it before jumping over her and attaching my lips to hers once more, slowly moving down to kiss her jaw and her neck, carefully not to hurt her, before kissing her collarbone and shoulder as she let out a small moan of delight. I moved from her left shoulder to her right one slowly leaving wet kisses on her skin before going back to her lips, licking her lower one, asking for permission which was quickly granted as she parted her mouth allowing me to deepen the kiss and explore her mouth with my tongue for the first time while her hands were all over my back and hair, pulling lightly and stealing a light moan from me when I felt her chuckle against my mouth.

\- "Are you sure this is the first time you've done this?" –I asked amusingly, looking at her as she opened her eyes.

\- "How could I've done this before if you've been my first kiss?" –she smiled raising an eyebrow.

\- "You do find it entertaining, don't you?"

\- "I'm sorry for laughing, I just... I didn't expect to... you know... so soon... or at all honestly." –she mumbled, eyes everywhere but on mine.

\- "Make me moan?" –I asked and she nodded embarrassed, pink tinting her cheeks- "Oh, Sam, you have truly no idea how you make me feel, have you?"

\- "I hope at least half as frustrated as I am right now." –she stated looking at me again.

\- "Trust me when I tell you I'm using all my will-power not to keep kissing you and going further south."

\- "That makes me feel much better, thank you." –she smiled softly, kissing my arm.

\- "You need to stop being so tempting."

\- "Me? Tempting?" –Sam scoffed playfully- "Love, go check yourself in the mirror and then we can speak of what 'temptation' actually means."

I laughed letting my head fall into the crock of her neck, slowly closing my eyes as she wrapped her arms around me and started playing with my hair; I allowed myself to lay over her, in between her legs, still keeping some of my weight with my elbows. We stayed like that for who knows how long, in peaceful silence until I let go, lying completely over her, simply enjoying each other's company. I moved my head to face her neck and I planted a light kiss there over the bruises as Sam caressed my upper arm, drawing lines distractedly on it with her fingers while her other hand played with my hair. I'd never felt such happiness and peace in my life. Our private bubble of joy and bliss was disrupted by a couple knocks on our door and I grunted in annoyance as Sam chuckled softly.

\- "Let's pretend we are asleep."

\- "Bellamy, I heard you, I know you aren't sleeping so open the door!" –Octavia's voice came through the door.

\- "It's open, O!" –Sam answered laughing.

I hid my face in her neck again, mentally cursing my beloved sister for ruining the moment as I heard the door opening and a couple footsteps following.

\- "Did I interrupt something?"

\- "Actually, yes." –I quickly answered looking up at her and lying on my side next to Sam.

\- "Excuse me but you are still fully clothed so I can't have interrupted much." –Octavia scoffed before sitting on the bed and looking at Sam- "How's your leg?"

\- "It's fine really. Abbie and Jackson did a great job, right before telling me I can't do any heavy exercise for at least the next couple of weeks which means no training for me."

\- "Now I get why Bellamy is so moody." –Octavia laughed as Sam's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

\- "O, I love you, but I'm not going to discuss my sex life with you; it'd be rather weird if you ask me." –Sam crossed her arms over her chest glancing at me.

\- "It is." –Octavia agreed- "But I hope you'll be better before the two-week mark, we have things to do."

\- "We do?"

\- "Yeah, you need to keep training with Sheda and Ion, remember?"

\- "I'm not sure that's still an option since I deliberately ignored Lexa's orders last night. I'm pretty sure I've been cast out like Lincoln." –she sat up- "Which reminds me I can't do much either way since I gave Sheda my bow and my blades are stuck on the guards at the Mountain."

\- "You have Oreth's blade."

\- "I liked my bow."

Octavia started laughing as Sam pushed her lightly on the upper arm.

\- "Since when are you so childish?"

\- "Since it's the bow your boyfriend made for me." –Sam retorted back- "I'd like to keep it."

\- "He'll make you another one."

\- "You have an answer for everything nowadays, don't you?"

\- "I learned from the best." –Octavia winked at Sam and she laughed- "What happened to you silver tongue?"

\- "She's taking a break."

A knock on the door made us three turn our head towards the entrance of the room only to see Lincoln resting his weight on the door's frame, observing us.

\- "I'm sure Sheda will give it back once he learns you're alright; after all, he was worried you'd die because he let you inside the Mountain alone."

\- "He has a long way to go." –Octavia smiled rising from the bed and moving towards Lincoln- "He was to learn Sam hardly ever listens to any of us three let alone anyone else."

\- "Rude." –Sam chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest.

\- "But true." –I reminded her, sitting up next to her.

\- "Still." –she smiled at me.

\- "I just came by to let you know that dinner's ready..." –Lincoln spoke again before looking at Octavia- "...and to look for you."

\- "You found me, let's go." –she turned to look at us- "You coming?"

\- "Save us a seat." –I said nodding at them before they left.

I rose from the bed as Sam sat on its edge to put on her jacket while I looked at her.

\- "A picture would last you longer, Bell."

\- "I'd rather look at you every day, Sam."

\- "Ugh, stop it. I'm not trying to look like a tomato at dinner."

\- "A cute tomato."

She rolled her eyes playfully at me as she got ready to rise from the bed. I held out both my arms for her to help her up and keep her balance. Once she was standing in front of me, I gave her a quick kiss on the lips before lowering and taking her on my arms as she laughed.

\- "You know I can walk, right?" –she asked, rubbing her thumb over my neck.

\- "Are you sure?"

\- "Yeah, slow, but I can." –she stroke my cheek- "Put me down, you've already carried my ass around a lot."

\- "I promise I'll let you walk tomorrow but today let me enjoy thinking you need me to get on with your life, alright?" –I kissed her forehead.

\- "You know I do need you." –she kissed my jaw- "You're stuck with me now."

\- "I can't think of a better way to spend the rest of my life."


End file.
